Born Yesterday
by Sybl Angelkat
Summary: (The sequel to "The Dove"). The Sohma curse is defeated and everyone can now move on with their lives without it hanging over their heads. When his wife Melody is reborn in the garden, Akito now faces a new set of challenges along with her: she must learn to live as a human and he must learn how to be a father. She always had said life was an adventure...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey, everybody! So many people liked "The Dove"—including my fiancée—that I decided to do another story about Akito and Melody. If you haven't read that one, some things in this one may not make a lot of sense, so I suggest it. In other news, I am also working on a retelling of the Secret Garden (more child friendly if you're interested). Thanks for taking the time to drop by and if you have some things that you'd like to see, please toss them my way via the review and PM system. Thanks for your support

Chapter 1

It had stormed a lot when Melody had first arrived at Sohma House. Now, it was storming in the wake of her departure. Akito lay on his side in the fold-out bed in Hatori and Kana's living room. Soon, he knew, he was going to have to man up and go back to his own room. He felt thoroughly drained no matter how much sleep he got—and he'd been sleeping a lot lately. Not even Squishie could keep him awake for long, or Tianshi, who was a pro at crawling and was now learning to walk. She could walk if she wanted to badly enough—her spread-legged gait wasn't going to get her far, but it was certainly enough to dash away from her mother during bath time. Tianshi and Squishie both seemed to know that Akito was grieving and they never gave him a moment's peace. There were times this wasn't such a big deal, but having a little hand poking under the door when one was on the toilet was kind of aggravating. Squishie would sometimes jump at him at night, pawing the covers to try and figure out where Melody was. He'd tried to be patient with everyone and everything, but the fury was building. Squishie was pawing relentlessly at his back tonight and he finally rolled over suddenly, startling the little mop.

"She's not coming back, you stupid mutt! So knock it off already!" Akito snapped. Squishie whimpered and leapt off the mattress. He didn't realize just how loud he'd been until he heard Tianshi start crying. He heard stirring in the bedroom and Hatori appeared, still only clad in boxers and a T-shirt.

"Akito? Is everything all right?"

His voice was an odd mixture of concern and sternness. Akito sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Sorry," he mumbled, chastened.

Hatori glanced behind him. Akito caught a glimpse of Kana's shadow on the wall as she approached Tianshi's crib. Satisfied that the baby was being comforted, he came to sit beside Akito.

"How do I make this dumb dog understand? She's not coming back," Akito finally said, frustrated, "she keeps looking for her and scratching up the covers and biting me like I have something to do with it."

He cradled his head in his hands.

"She's a dog, Akito. She'll get used to it just being the two of you soon enough," Hatori said gently, "it's been hard on all of us. You've lost a wife…I've lost a very good friend, as has Kana and all the others. And Squishie…she's lost a master. Melody was her alpha and now she's probably afraid that you'll leave her as well."

"She's great at making me feel guilty. Maybe it is my fault. If I'd never trusted that damn Lyt…"

"We've been through this. You didn't know, and even if you had, Lyt might have found some other way to try and get what he wanted."

Akito listened to Tianshi's sobs quieting to mere whimpers.

"I know…I'm sorry for waking all of you up. Especially Tianshi."

Despite his frustrations, he was trying very hard not to take it out on the others. He'd tasted the freedom once that not having everyone scared of him had given him. Now that Melody wasn't around to help, he had to maintain these relationships all on his own. It was exhausting.

"I'll go back tomorrow," Akito promised, "I'm tired of being a pain in everyone's backside."

"There's no rush," Hatori said, smoothing the covers over him like he used to when Akito was still a kid and frequently sick, "you can stay as long as you want."

"Thanks," he mumbled, the guilt only growing. His mind was made up, though. There were no ghosts in the shadows for him to fear now, only memories. In some ways, those were worse.

"Is there anything you need?" Hatori asked.

"No. Thank you."

He retreated back to their shared room. Kana was trying to talk as softly as she could, but he could still hear her.

"Is everything all right in there? He really gave Tianshi a fright."

"Nights are hardest on him," Hatori answered, "the dog keeps trying to find Melody. She must have jumped on him or something."

"Poor puppy."

As if on cue, Squishie jumped back up on the bed. He held his hand out to her. No tears came though he felt like crying. All his tears had poured out already. He petted her in the dark, looking at the soft shine reflecting off of her big dark eyes. Thank God for dogs being so forgiving.

_She isn't coming back…I know you want her to. I'd give anything if I could get her back, but there's nothing I can do. And I really don't know why Father would let her die when He has the power to make her live, but she'd want me to trust him. And I'm trying…I'm trying so hard…but I don't have anything left in me to give._

The next morning, he stirred his tea listlessly. It felt like he was navigating on autopilot. Tianshi was more interested in trying to grab things and throw them than eating her breakfast. A harassed-looking Kana was trying to keep an eye on her and the food at the same time. At last, the food was on the table and she didn't have to worry about it. Those little hands never seemed to stop moving.

"Tianshi, you're going to need a bath," Kana sighed, wiping her chin, "we're getting more on your clothes than in your tummy!"

Splat! Some of the rice sloshed out of her bowl and hit the floor where Squishie promptly devoured it.

"Uh-oh…" Akito remarked. Tianshi shrieked with giggles. Now, she'd figured out a new game altogether: feeding the dog. Squishie only encouraged this by sitting up on her hind legs and begging.

"Squishie, out!" Akito ordered, but Squishie only went as far as the doorway and stopped. She seemed to be intent on disobeying him on every technicality today. Hatori emerged, examining the scene with barely veiled amusement under his usual solemn expression.

"Not hungry, I see…well, then you won't mind if I just take this, will you?"

Hatori picked the little pink bowl up and Tianshi howled in protest. Kana gave him an "are you insane" look, but he knew exactly what he was doing.

"All right," he said, giving it back, "but you'd better eat it this time."

Tianshi looked over at Squishie, almost regretfully, then obediently opened her mouth for the next spoonful.

"Well…I learn new things about you ever day," Kana said gratefully, "how on earth did you do that?"

Hatori poured himself some coffee and helped himself to his own breakfast.

"Over a hundred Sohmas live around here—that doesn't count the ones in the surrounding areas. At least half of them are children. Starting to get it?" he asked, "Besides, that was the only way Akira could get Akito to eat half the time."

Akito made a face.

"Leave me out of this, O Wise Dragon," he said warningly, "before I tell Kana how you had an Epic Transformation Fail with that drunken college girl at med school."

"You're making that up."

"Am I?"

Kana giggled.

"I haven't heard this story yet," she said mischievously.

"Oh, look at the time. I have to go open the clinic."

He pecked her on the forehead, then kissed his very messy baby girl on the forehead. She giggled and he ducked, avoiding those grabby little hands. The long bangs that covered his damaged eye were strangely appealing to Tianshi.

"See you both at lunch…I'm sure Tianshi will look lovely in whatever color the soup is."

Despite his growing longing that Melody could be there to share in the laughter, Akito chuckled a little. Had he really wanted one of these things? Tianshi was sweet, of course, but she was very tiring. He couldn't see how Kana did it.

"All right, Missy, let's get you cleaned up," Kana said, "Akito, did you need anything?"

He shook his head.

"No, thank you."

He waited until the two disappeared into the bathroom. Kana began to sing a song that Melody often sang. Sighing deeply, he picked up his suitcase. Then, he put it down, made the bed neatly, then retreated soundlessly. And Squishie followed.

The room had a musty feel to it after being closed off this long. He opened the window to let in some fresh air after making sure the rain was going the other direction. It ruffled his hair and blew some papers off the desk, but he ignored those. That cold air felt so good. Squishie, of course, went snuffing around every corner until she was sure that Melody wasn't around. Akito looked around.

He had never felt this alone in his life.

There were little reminders of her everywhere. Her books were still by the tub. Her radio was still here, and still on. Her clothes were still in the partly open closet. It was as if this room had been frozen in time. He looked at the huge bed they'd both shared and wondered how he'd manage to sleep in here. Sleeping made him forget how much he hurt, but it also brought back the memories. Sliding open the doors a bit, he looked out at the impending storm. He wished it would stop raining—he hated being wet when it rained, but he missed being outside. It was the one thing that always brought him comfort. Now, the flowers were being beaten down by the rain, their colorful petals laying ruined in the mud.

Kana returned with a much cleaner Tianshi. Puzzled, she noticed that Akito and Squishie were missing. Squishie's food and water bowl were gone and the pull-out was very neatly made. Laying in the center was a slightly rumpled piece of paper. She picked it up.

_Hatori and Kana,_

_Thank you for letting me stay here and taking care of me. I owe you much more than I will ever be able to repay. I thought it was time Squish and I moved back to our own room (for both yours and Tianshi's sake, as I seem to be gifted at waking her up in the middle of the night). Also, sorry about not telling you this in person. Today is just one of those days. I wanted to be alone._

His name was signed at the bottom in Chinese characters. Kana sensed the awkwardness in his hesitating pen-strokes and wording. She understood, though.

"Poor guy," she said as Tianshi tried to grab at the paper, "I don't think he wanted to say goodbye, do you?"

Tianshi made a noise and crammed a corner of the note in her mouth.

Akito was laying spread out on the bed the way Melody used to lay. He was on his stomach with her laptop open in front of her. Resisting the temptation to scroll through her millions of pictures, he instead had brought up several different university websites in different browser tabs. Each one had its own list of requirements. Those were no big deal—he had finished high school two years early by correspondence and home-schooling because of his constant bouts of porphyria and the recurring fevers. Hatori had written to those schools. Having a doctor on hand 24/7 had been a blessing. Now, he was considering doing something that was very un-Akito-like. His eyes panned the screenshots of happy-looking students on campus and in classrooms. He'd never really fit in anywhere, but what would it be like to be just one in the crowd? To have them not know about his infamous temper and constant illness? He wasn't sure what he wanted to study, but he was sure of one thing: he wanted out of this damn house. At least for a little while. He wanted to go somewhere that was neutral, that was free of memories and shadows. And now that he was stronger and actually healthy, he could do so. But which one? He didn't want to go so far from home that he couldn't return at night or on the weekends. He did want to go far enough that someone had not yet heard of the infamous "Sohmas". There were too many decisions to make. He thought he was used to such things.

There was a knock on the door. Kyoko brought in a tray of food which she knew would probably go mostly uneaten, but at least she'd brought it.

"What are you up to over here?" she asked kindly. He was glad she didn't ask how he was doing—he truly hated that question.

"Looking at colleges," he responded.

"Oh? Planning on getting a degree?"

"Maybe. I don't know what kind. There's so many…"

"I think that's wonderful. Not many of us here have gone to college. You'll be one of the first, other than Hatori."

He shrugged as she leaned over his shoulder to look at the screen.

"You know, Melody would be very proud of you."

He sat up, accepting the steaming mug of tea. He realized, with a slight shock, that the computer clock read 7:30. He'd lost track of time completely.

"Thank you," he said gratefully, "you are the one who said I should keep going as if she'd never left."

"She hasn't," Kyoko said, "just yesterday, I saw a white dove out there. And I felt so strongly that it was her. It held my gaze much longer than an ordinary bird would."

Akito sipped the tea, somewhat envious that she hadn't yet come to him.

"Did she get close?" Akito asked.

"No. Just stayed perched in one of those cherry trees you're so fond of."

As if reading his mind, she said, "I'm sure she spends more time following you than you realize. Just because you can't see her doesn't mean she isn't there. She'll show herself if she thinks it's time."

More to satisfy Kyoko (and consequently all the others who were bound to ask) than actual hunger, Akito nibbled on the food she'd brought him. It was a trick he'd learned at a young age when people worried—he'd make it seem like he was eating more than he actually would, then rearrange the rest of the food to make it look like he'd had enough.

"It's been almost two weeks," he complained, "we've had the funeral and everything. Does she expect me to do everything without her?"

Squishie flopped over on the pillow with a sigh. Akito glanced sideways at her.

"At the very least, she could do it for this miserable mutt. She never stops looking for her. I'm not…affectionate enough to have a dog."

Kyoko merely smiled, stroking Squishie's unkempt fur.

"That's precisely why she left her here for you. She's teaching you how. Remember when Melody first arrived? You had all the cuddliness of a porcupine."

Akito smiled a little.

"But you have grown so much since then. I don't think you're as inept as you think you are."

It was after midnight by the time he finally dared to shut the computer down. Squishie had been coming and going through the foot-wide space he'd left for her with the door. He finally now closed it and changed for bed. Squishie's big, dark eyes bored a hole in him.

"What?" he asked.

She curled up on Melody's side on her pillow. Akito shrugged—at least it wasn't completely empty. Frowning, he slid between the sheets. A gale wind picked up outside and howled through the gardens. The poor trees had been losing a lot of their buds and they twisted and rattled bare branches as if to protest the wind. He watched the shadows dancing there, but reminded himself there was nothing to fear. The house was no longer captive to things that had power over them. He let his eyes slide closed. Squishie cuddled closer to him. It seemed to be getting colder. Where on earth was spring?! It was already past due. Eventually, he stopped shivering enough to go to sleep, though it was a very light and fitful sleep. By morning, he felt more tired than if he had just stayed up. He let Squishie out and promptly got the shower as hot as it would go.

The children were heading off to school just after he'd gotten dressed. He saw them emerging from the house in their uniforms. Isuzu and Hatsuharu both had one and two years respectively. Someone else was watching the baby while they were there. He suspected Kana might have taken Akira. Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki were probably going to meet up with them at some point in town. He felt a slight pang—they'd all been together a lot the last week, but they all had to return to school now. Momiji, Kisa, and Hiro were all walking out together as well. It didn't surprise Akito at all that Kisa slipped her hand into Hiro's. Things were still a bit uncomfortable between Hiro and himself, but he had to admit it was getting better. Both could relate to each other faking stoicism when they didn't feel it. Akito gave a resigned sigh. Life was going on and he had to accept it.

"I'm trying," he said out loud, "I really am. But I could use a hand here…"

There was a knock at the door. Akito slid it back to reveal Shigure.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised.

"Well, the house is really empty without Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki," Shigure said, "Aya was busy and Hatori's trying to stitch the leg up of a very cranky toddler, so he's out. I thought I'd come see if you had any plans."

_That was fast…_he thought, stunned.

"Well, now that you mention it," Akito said, stepping back to let him in, "I know you at least spent some time at university before you got kicked out. I was thinking of attending during the summer term. Maybe you could help me out?"

"The Great Akito is asking for my help?! Why, I'm flattered!" Shigure began on one of his melodramatic dialogues.

"Save it for your books, Mutt," Akito muttered, interrupting him. Squishie bark-sang a greeting to Shigure and he picked her up to pet her. She always got happy to see everyone, but Shigure had a special way with dogs because of his former dog-spirit. The animal-attraction never went away despite the curse breaking and Yuki was somewhat relieved by that because he still had help with the garden. Kyo, on the other hand, was very disappointed.

"I'd be happy to show you around," Shigure said, dropping the act, "but only if we can take this cute little thing with us! Girls love fluffy dogs like this."

"I'd rather we didn't," Akito said, "she gets carsick. She completely wrecked the upholstery."

"That's too bad," Shigure said, scratching her behind the ears, "another time, maybe."

Akito followed him out to the car. Squishie didn't like being left behind, but she'd probably forget in the next five minutes. It was good to get away from the house.

"Do you know what you're looking for?" Shigure asked.

"Something with a smaller class size," Akito said promptly, "I still don't really like crowds that much. And something that isn't super-expensive. Just because I have it doesn't really mean I want to throw it around in public."

"That's a wise decision," Shigure said, turning, "you'll keep all the gold-diggers away."

Akito made a face.

"I'd hope to keep them all away," he said with a grimace, "I don't even want to think about other women. Especially not now."

"Can't say I blame you. I'd give a few internal organs to find a woman like her."

"Stop hanging out in bars and help your chances," Akito retorted, "how can you expect someone like Melody to go for you when you reek of cheap sake?"

"You do have a good point."

The clouds were still hanging low over the city, but a tiny shaft of sunlight was breaking through. Day one of his journey had begun.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I made a serious mistake. Went back and realized I'd said that Akira had already been born—whoops…Isuzu's not far enough along, so just disregard that bit. She's still supposed to be pregnant. Also, the story that Lillith references is "Ordinary Miracles" and it's about the Phantom of the Paradise (also on my page).

By the time Shigure and Akito had hit every university within a certain radius, it was getting dark. The two had stopped to eat lunch though Akito's appetite was still pretty sparse. Only the hot, sweet tea was good to him, as everything still seemed blunted. Shigure was chatting away, oblivious to his growing discomfort. Their waitress had been back many more times than necessary. While it had initially been nice, he found himself getting annoyed. He had his head resting on one hand, waiting for her to take the hint and go away and she actually squatted down to where she was eye-level with him. Shigure was trying not to laugh. Akito didn't say much to her, insisting they had everything they needed already. She eventually was forced to go away as another group needed to be seated in their area. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's her problem?" he asked, irritated.

"She likes you," Shigure pointed out as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "she's trying to get your attention."

"She's getting it, all right, but not in the way she wants," he growled. He'd been around people all day and just wanted a bit of peace and quiet. Being around others drained him immensely.

"Have a heart for that poor, delicate little flower," Shigure said dramatically, "she can't possibly know what a grouch you are! Look at her with those big dark eyes and those cute little pigtails!"

He promptly launched into his little "high school girls" ditty, which made Akito kick him under the table—hard! Shigure winced and immediately shut up. Akito calmly returned to pushing chicken around on his plate as if nothing had happened.

"That hurt, you know!" Shigure said, feigning the constricted throat you got when you were trying not to cry.

"You'll live," Akito retorted.

He felt a hand on his upper arm and snapped his head around to see who it was. The pesky waitress was back. And for some reason, something inside of him snapped.

"Did I give you permission to touch me?" he asked, voice low and dangerous. The girl paled and yanked her hand back.

"I'm sorry…" she whimpered.

Akito held up his hand. The wedding band still glinted in the light, the gold standing out against his milky-pale skin.

"You see this? Care to tell me what it is?"

Her face flushed.

"A ring?"

"A certain kind of ring."

She gulped.

"A wedding ring?"

He nodded.

"Good. You're not as dumb as you act. Yes, this is a wedding ring. And it's there for a reason. The only person in the world allowed to touch me is my wife. So if you don't want to get fired, I suggest you bring our bill and leave. Or else."

She practically tripped over her own two feet as she hurried away. The other customers were staring. Akito's hands balled into fists and Shigure saw him get The Look.

"What are you all looking at?!"

"Akito," Shigure said gently, "can you just try to calm down? It was an honest mistake."

"It's right here on my damn finger, Shigure! You'd have to be blind not to see it! And I wonder how many other men she's flirted with in here!"

The waitress silently placed the bill on their table. Without looking at her, Akito slapped the payment on top of it with more force than necessary.

"Let's go," he said icily to Shigure, not waiting for the change. Shigure didn't think twice about leaving though he wasn't finished. He didn't want any more of a scene to be caused. The old Akito, the one who could throw tantrums with the best of them, was resurfacing. They quickly made their way across the crowded room to the outside. Akito breathed in the cool air and let his eyes close as the wind caressed his heated face. That unpleasant burning sensation in his scalp told him that his blood pressure was up very high.

Shigure waited silently until Akito's breathing smoothed out. He got in the car and closed the door.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked gently. Akito didn't answer. He was looking down at the golden band on his finger, twisting it around and around, which he always did when something was bothering him. He closed his eyes and lay the seat back. Shigure didn't say anything else, satisfied that he couldn't be angry or upset if he was taking a nap. It appeared he'd reached his limit today.

_Well, we got this far without him exploding,_ Shigure thought, _at least it's an improvement. Though I really do feel sorry for that poor little girl. She was cute._

Invisible. Weightless. Painless, griefless, and lighter than the air itself…it was alien to her even now though she'd been this way since Father had made her. Melody, no longer able to be seen by most human eyes, had shadowed her former husband on this day. Passing easily through the walls of the restaurant, she was sent here to make sure that two people met. One was an atheist—a mean and bitter one—and one was a Christian. One was also destined to be husband, the other a wife. It was purely by accident that Akito and Shigure had happened to eat at the same place. When she saw him, she let out a squeal of joy, then clamped both hands over her mouth before she realized that no one could hear her. She remembered that she was supposed to be working and forced herself to stop staring, but it was hard. Keeping one ear attuned to them as well as she could while moving in the opposite direction, she headed towards the cash register. There were two credit cards laying in two ticket trays. Grinning mischievously, she switched the cards. Now they had no choice but to talk if they wanted their own cards back! She loved these sorts of jobs. Now that this was done, she passed through several people and tables until she reached Akito's side. Unfortunately, that was the precise second that Akito had begun to scold the poor infatuated waitress. The girl ran away in tears while Shigure had tried to calm him down without success.

Melody could no longer produce tears, but angels still cried from time to time. It was a different kind of crying, something that only your heart did, but the same sentiment was there. Akito was too thin. He looked like he hadn't slept well and he was hurting—she could see that. His aura, once a brilliant crimson flare, was muted and shrunken in close to his skin. It wasn't the fact that she couldn't be with him that made her cry, nor was it the fact that he couldn't see or sense her in his emotional distress. What made her cry was the fact that he was upset at all.

_I know you're sad, but that's not going to help you feel better…don't you remember what I taught you?_

She saw them get up and walk towards the door. Torn between following them and the poor waitress who'd suffered his wrath, Melody stayed there for a second. Shaking her head, she decided to go find the girl first. There was something yet that had to be taken care of. She waited until the girl was outside with her cigarettes before she acted.

Anyone who would have happened upon her would have said it was the result of a strong wind. But in fact, it was Melody who snared the hat off of her head and made it go skidding along the sidewalk before it came to rest. When the waitress picked it up, there was an American $100 bill. She let out a screech of shock. It had been dropped there by a busy businessman two hours earlier who had been in such a hurry that he didn't notice it was missing. A quick trip to the bank to get it converted would ensure her rent this month. Now she could follow Akito…she was hesitant at first, as Father didn't usually permit the deceased to visit their relatives or spouses often because it interfered with the going-on process, but she heard no objections from him. Nervously fidgeting with the hilt of her guardian sword, she surged into the air with only a thought. Though she had wings, they were really more of a symbol than a necessity for flying—she could have done that without them. But the wings certainly made her go faster and she caught up with them in no time at all. Landing on top of the car, she enjoyed the ride with no barriers to the rippling scenery around her. If Akito felt her now, he'd only wake up and be sad again, so she willed her very aura to be hidden from him. Later on tonight, she would reveal herself to him.

It wasn't the same, she admitted. Now that there was no flesh, there was no desire for comfort or even sex. There was no desire to be held or kissed or cuddled. She remembered what it had been like, but that all seemed like a distant dream. While she could not love him the way she had when she was an earthly woman, her love had been purified and strengthened. She loved him for all that he was as a person in general. She loved him for the changes, for the relationship with Father that he was clinging to despite his doubts and his hurt and anger. Who wouldn't admire him for that? Still, though, he had to stop taking his anger out on people. They wouldn't understand, nor did they deserve it.

Once they arrived, Akito promptly retreated to his room and didn't say anything. Melody wandered about the house, passing through every room. The children were home from school. They'd met in the dining room though it was close to dinner time and were doing homework together. Momiji was very smart in general, but it was hard for him to keep all the names and dates straight for history. Kisa was surprisingly good at math, but not so much at spelling. Hiro was the opposite, so they took turns correcting each other's mistakes. Hatori was closing up the clinic and leaving the phone on speaker while Ayame chatted away about some new project, unaware that Hatori was completely tuning him out. Melody smiled. Poor Hatori…sometimes she wondered if he was so serious on purpose. She'd seen him with Tianshi and that was the only time he ever bothered to do silly things. Babies were definitely a game-changer.

After she'd checked on everyone, she went to see Akito. He was laying on his bed—once their bed—and about to fall asleep from the looks of it. Curling around him the way she used to do, she wrapped her wings over him like a cloak. He wasn't consciously aware of it, but he still smiled in his sleep. Squishie wagged her tail, sensing Melody's presence as well. Though she was gone when he woke, he felt much more at peace than when he'd lain down. Sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, his stomach growled noisily. At first, he thought about asking Kyoko to get him something, but instead rose. It was time to rejoin the living.

The others had gathered at the tables in the dining room. Akito slumped into one of the chairs, not the most eager to socialize, but knowing he had to. He only ate a little before he got full and only answered in very short, clipped sentences, but he was truly trying. Most disconcerting was how they kept avoiding talking about Melody as if she were a curse. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about this. He only stayed for a little while, then returned to his room. Hatori and Kana watched him go, their faces mixtures of concern and sympathy.

Akito flopped face-down on the bed. Would he ever feel cheerful again? Would he ever be able to wake up hopeful again or feel as if things would be all right? It was as if everything now made him sad. And worse, he was angry. He was trying not to be, but he was angry with Father…no…Melody referred to him as Father. God. He was actually angry with God for taking her away even though He knew how much Melody had meant to him.

"Why are you putting me through this? All of us? I've tried so hard to see it, but I can't," he said crossly, "I…I can't live like this. I'm doing all this stuff because everyone eventually expects me to move on. Right now, they're all being piteous and I hate that. I don't want everyone to say 'oh, poor Akito'…I've had that all my life! I just want her…"

His voice was rising, but there was no one really around to hear.

"I fell for that stupid Lyt's promise to help me, that's how bad I wanted her…is that what this is? My punishment?"

Silence answered him.

"What did I ever do to deserve this? Answer me, dammit! You're so good at interfering!"

For a moment, he was fearful as well as angry. But the two emotions warred with each other, resulting in a severe nausea. Akito twisted the top off of a bottle of pink stomach medicine and chugged some of the contents. His eyes stung, but the tears didn't come. He was all cried out—he'd already cried so much that he was spent. Never had that emptiness been so strong and so large. It was like an enormous chasm had opened up inside of him.

Akito looked at his reflection in the bathroom, slamming the bottle on the counter.

"So, that's how it is…you show up, you get what you want from me, then you leave me…"

He let his feverish face rest against the glass. His face was only hot from risen blood pressure, but he felt very weak and drained just the same. Emotions tumbled end over end. Guilt for being angry, the anger itself, the fearfulness that something worse would happen now that he had actively challenged God and accused Him of not caring, and always this unshakable depression.

"I hate this place," he mumbled, "I hate everything."

Sitting in his chair by the fireplace, he glanced at what Melody referred to as "the treasure box" on the mantle. How he longed for those days again…

"The Crazy Bitch". That was the title they'd given her. And now, she was branded forever. Her formerly beautiful black hair had been chopped off to just above her shoulders. One grayish-blue eye was looking off in one direction while the other stared straight ahead. Wearing the ugly blue uniform, Ren Sohma sat on her hard, narrow bed and stared at the wall. There was a fly crawling up it. The stupid thing…it could be anywhere at all in the world, probably even at her spoiled son's house. Ren envied its glossy clear wings and its ability to go anywhere.

She had initially been diagnosed with some obscure mental illness. Histrionic personality disorder, the American snob of a psychiatrist had said, with delusions of grandeur and persecution. They had also said she was bipolar and put her on some medicine that did nothing, really, except make her mind foggy and make her gain weight though the food was cheap and of terrible quality. She felt no better on it. It merely made her have trouble sleeping and people here picked on her more for her "drugged" state.

Seeing one of the guards, she unzipped the front of her jumpsuit, exposing all but the nipple region of her breasts.

"Slow night tonight, huh? And it's very warm in here…"

The guard glanced, but forced his gaze away immediately. An image of his pregnant wife flashed through his mind.

"Nice try, Ren, but I'm happily married," he said firmly, "and you know that bit doesn't work on me."

"But it takes you longer to look away each time," she said, rising from the bed. Pressing into the bars, she tried to touch him. He backed away.

"Stop it or I'll have them put you in solitary again."

Ren pouted, but he didn't give in and walked away.

"You're funny, you know that?" a voice said. Ren nearly jumped out of her skin. That was coming from behind her...

"Don't be frightened. I only want to talk. You see, I've been inside you this entire time."

Ren slowly dared to turn. A woman was standing in the corner of her cell. A curtain of blonde hair fell around her shoulders. Her eyes were so pale blue that they almost appeared colorless. There was a knife scar on her chest, disappearing into the low-cut neckline of her tank top.

"You are one of them," Ren said, "the spirits…"

"Sort of," the woman replied, "now zip your shirt. That may work on the guards, but that view does nothing for me."

Numbly, she obeyed.

"I'm not really part of the Zodiac," the woman continued, "but I've been there with them. How else would we have passed on the 'god gene'? When there were girls born in the year of the god, I was the one who took over. And I ensured all their continuance, especially since there was this fear of passing on bad genes and so forth. I am who made you what you are today…or were. We seem to have hit a rough spot with that darned Melody."

"I hate that woman," Ren muttered.

"No need for you to now," the woman answered, "she is dead. Lyt slew her by knocking her into the lava. And your darling boy couldn't save her from the Hell of his own mind."

Ren's attention was captured.

"She's dead? Really? That means…"

"That means we have a shot," the woman continued, "at taking back our rightful place. And that disgusting angel won't be there to help him. But we have to play our cards right, you know. I only escaped detection because I literally left you before she showed up."

"I could have used your help then!" Ren nearly shouted.

"Easy, no one can hear me, remember?" the woman said, lowering her own voice to make a point, "I'm Lillith by the way. And I've had a tangle with Melody before. Oh, the stories I could tell you. Did you know she was once a club dancer? Not stripping or pole or anything like that, but singing and dancing for this little blonde idiot that thought he was the world's gift to women. Turns out, that blonde man had it in for this half-crazy musician that he shafted and the musician went all-crazy and started running around in a bird mask. I tricked that poor fool Melody into turning human so that she could go save him. Then, I killed her. Unfortunately, she sent me back to Hell in the process. Pity, that. Well, that was over thirty years ago and here I am! I needed a diversion while I waited on you to be born."

Ren just stared.

"I think I've finally met someone crazier than me," was all she could manage while backing away.

"I'll prove it. The first time you ever saw Akira naked was when you were spying on him while he was bathing in the hot spring. You weren't supposed to be out, but you couldn't stand not breaking the rules. When you first learned about Akito being born, you thought he was going to be a girl—and the doctor made a mistake on the ultrasound the first time. When you saw how tight Akira was with Akito, you thought about strangling him in his crib, but didn't because you knew it would make Akira hate you."

"I've never told anyone about all that…" Ren said, stunned.

"That's right, sister. I know every dirty little secret you've ever kept since the day you were born."

"So…what's the point of never showing up until now? What do you want?"

"I want to get you out of this dump and back into your rightful place. In exchange, you will do whatever I ask."

Ren raised an eyebrow.

"It thinks I take orders! Hahahaha! That's so funny!" she shrieked. The guards were giving her the Look now that she was being loud.

"It's an offer you can't refuse," she told her, "you could have nice clothes again, a nice car, good food, and people to wait on you hand and foot. And the Sohma fortune. And I could live the life of a mortal…a very luxurious life. I only want the same things you do. And no one ever need know I was here."

Ren snickered, but she was growing more intrigued.

"Oh? And my son?"

"We won't kill him. He's protected by God anyway," Lillith spat furiously, "the feather-brain got to him. But that doesn't mean we can't make his life difficult in other ways. What do you say?"

"Now we're talking."


	3. Chapter 3

The day was cool and the sky was blue, but no one really trusted it to stay that way. Tugging his jacket a little more tightly around him, Akito joined up with the rest of the tour group. People were talking away, all discussing their upcoming graduations. He felt a little wrench in his gut; he was clearly the oldest guy here. Thankfully, his very thin frame, slightly longer hair, and larger eyes made him seem younger than he truly was. They were waiting for the teacher's assistant that had volunteered to take them around. Hatori and Shigure had both offered to come with him, but he said it was all right. Still, he couldn't help but feel some trepidation as he saw the car drive off. His belly was full of nervous acid. For one awful moment, he felt himself go cold all over and thought he was in danger of fainting. But then, he shook his head. No. No more hiding from the world. Melody wouldn't want him to be fearful and neither would Akira. So, he steeled his courage and approached the group.

"Our tour guide is late," one of the girls said, "you got here just in time."

He squirmed, not knowing what to say, and made sure he held his hands clasped together in front of him. The golden wedding band was visible and the light was glinting off of it. Surely not all girls would react to him as the waitress did—Yuki seemed to hold the corner on that market. Sure enough, she didn't seem interested in _that_ way.

"So sorry," the assistant said, rushing up to them, "we had a little situation come up. I'm Bao Yu Qian and I will be showing you around the campus today. Where would you like to start?"

"I want to see where all the girls hang out," one boy in glasses said.

Everyone chuckled. Bao Yu shrugged.

"Let me guess…had a little trouble getting one in high school, probably got picked on for being smart, and that was all you could think about on the way up here?"

They all laughed, the glasses boy included.

"You know it," he answered truthfully.

"Well, your wish is my command. I'll take you to the most likely place that you'll be in a big crowd first," she said, leading them down the sidewalk, "as most of you know, you can't survive on a diet of Ramen alone unless you want some serious health problems. This is the dining hall. Each of you will receive a card that you can put money on when you have it and eat whenever you want. It works like a debit card. They have a wide variety of our traditional things such as rice, egg rolls, pork buns, dumplings, and vegetables, but they also have an International Station where you can try out another country's cuisine each week—one week, they'll do Italian, the next Mexican, the next French, and so on."

The dining hall was deserted for now, but Akito could smell spicy chicken being cooked as well as the more grainy smell of rice. He was too excited to be hungry as of yet, but their tour guide said they'd end the trip back here with lunchtime.

"Now that we've taken care of the most important thing, we'll go to the second most important: sleeping. I don't have to tell you that you're expected to behave maturely here because you'll find out the hard way. Lights go out at eleven and you have to either be inside or risk being locked out for the night. Alcohol and drugs aren't allowed—as if the punishing headaches aren't consequence enough, you'll be fined or even kicked out if you're caught with them. We expect quiet in here so that people can work and study, so stick to your headphones if you're a music lover. Also, you'll have to make sure you figure out a way to get along with others, as there are usually four to a room and it gets a little tricky to coordinate three other lives with your own."

Akito was glad he wasn't staying here. Despite initially considering living away from Sohma House, he hadn't been able to take that big of a leap. The beds were tiny and there wasn't a lot of room in the dorm rooms. He hoped that them shutting off the electricity at night was only a rumor. Imagine the trouble you could get into in that dark, tiny, cluttered space on the way to the bathroom!

They left the claustrophobic-looking dorms and went in and out of the classroom buildings. Each subject for the most part had its own building. He could hear professors lecturing behind the closed doors and everyone's conversation dropped to a whisper. Curious, he ventured closer to one of the doors to look in through the little window. One professor, a small middle-aged man with a big smile, was helping a dark-haired girl with what looked like some type of computer project. When he finally managed to get her unstuck, she smiled and he gave her a pat on the shoulder. The whole rest of the classroom was filled with guys—it was nice to know that not everyone stuck to the stereotypes. The professor checked on the others one by one. After everyone had caught up with him, he resumed the demonstration.

"Many of you have probably experienced the pleasure of a home visit now and then with your teachers," the guide continued, "but you've never experienced what goes on around here. You may move out of your parents' home, but it doesn't stop there. Everyone else on this campus becomes your extended family. If you miss too many classes, they will come looking for you. And don't be surprised if you see them even if you land in the hospital—they'll come to check on you."

"That's all we need," someone muttered.

"Well, I think that's awesome," a foreign voice piped up, "I never had professors like that. I got in a car wreck and all they did was ask why my work was so late."

The accent was American. The voice belonged to a girl with strawberry blonde hair. If it had been shorter, the girl would have passed for an older Kisa.

They continued on their way. At first, Akito didn't mind her comparisons of east vs. west, but it got old after a while. They went through each building. Akito couldn't help but smile a little when he saw the art building. Paintings hung on the walls as well as the traditional-style prints and calligraphy. There were also prints of digital art and ever-changing electronic frames where the image would remain for a few seconds and then change to another one. He saw one girl sitting at a computer with a pad the size of a sketchbook. The pen she was using on it had a magnetic tip instead of the ink spout and everything she did on the silver pad was appearing on the screen. His heart ached terribly—Melody would have wanted to play with such a thing.

They emerged just as the clouds were starting to wash over the campus. They had not yet blotted out the sun, but they were casting a shadow. The damp scent of rain wafted on the breeze. The others were groaning. Akito shared their sentiments for a moment, but then something touched him, making him cringe. Very carefully, he raised his arm, as he'd felt something tickle the back of his wrist. Once it was eye level, he got a better look.

A white butterfly had landed on him.

White…of all colors, it was white…

"It's so pretty!" the red-haired girl exclaimed. Akito was standing very, very still. The butterfly's wings were fanning in and out as if it breathed through them. It wasn't a perfect pure white, he noticed, but there were slightly darker spots on its wings that etched out a pattern. Even though the light was rapidly dying to the storm, Akito could see two tiny crosses, one on each wing and a third in the middle of its back. The girl snapped a picture of the butterfly with her phone. Akito winced and it suddenly took all the self-control he had not to yell at her to go away. His breath caught in his throat and he felt cold and tingly all over. It had turned itself to where they were looking into each other's faces. It was the strangest thing to look into the strange multi-faceted compound eyes, tiny and devoid of expression, but still feel an instant connection. Very shakily in a voice that was barely audible, he said, "Melody?"

The butterfly's wings spread open again before closing again.

He felt the tears welling up, but cleared his throat. Imagine trying to explain that one to all these teenagers…it sounded ridiculous in his own head. He had delayed coming to college for years because of a family curse and married his guardian angel and she'd died and now she was a butterfly.

He didn't dare touch her wings, for Hatori had told him when he was younger that he might hurt them—they were so delicate. Instead, he offered one finger and she climbed onto it. All six legs clung to the tip as if she were attempting to hug him.

"I've missed you," he whispered tremulously, "so much…you must know that…"

Open wings, closed wings.

"Please…don't leave me again," he pleaded, "I don't care what you turn into as long as you're around!"

Twitch.

"I love you."

Twitch.

She lifted off from his finger. He had to force himself not to stretch out and grab her in his cupped hands.

"Don't go, please.." he pleaded, "I'll find a way…I'll be very careful with you—wait!"

She had flown away despite his begging. The other students were looking at him strangely, so he sighed and hurried into the dining hall to join the others. While he was truly heartbroken, it wasn't the same crushing, sad, strangling feeling he'd been having. She was still around. She'd still come to visit him. And now, he knew she would. When Hatori pulled up to the sidewalk, Akito eagerly climbed in and they were off.

"I saw Melody," he breathed, "she was here!"

"Dove?" Shigure asked.

"Butterfly," he said, "I wished I'd have thought to take a picture. That other girl did, but I forgot. They probably all think I'm crazy now for talking to her."

"I would have liked to have seen that," Shigure chuckled.

"I'll bet," Akito said sourly, remembering his "high-school girls" song.

He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why did she leave again…I could care less if she turns into a monster so long as I can see her," he griped.

"She has other people to watch over, too," Shigure said gently.

Akito watched the rain drip down the glass like tears. He sagged back in his seat and didn't say much the rest of the way home.

Melody had taken refuge from the rain upside down on the underside of the eaves. She could easily imagine that the rain was rising up from an endless void below to saturate the solid sky above her, creating puddles that defied gravity. She dearly wished she had more time with Akito, but she was here for another purpose. The girl who had snapped her picture was an artist and she'd been lacking for inspiration lately. What she did do was dark and disturbing, so Father had sent her along as a change of pace. She preferred her dove form to be sure, but having a dove swoop down onto someone from the sky was far too conspicuous. She had chosen something small and inconsequential, something that would initially only get her former husband's attention first.

Feeling the warmth of his skin in contrast to the cold breeze was a welcome change. As butterflies got the sensation of taste through their feet as opposed to the straw-like mouth she had, she could taste the salt in his skin. She could feel the vibrations caused by his heartbeat, sense the blood draining away from the surface of his skin as he'd paled in disbelief. Though her vision was poor in this state, she knew his smell and could make out some of the basic details of his face. She didn't want to go, especially when he started pleading, but she had no choice. She was forced to leave, as the others were waiting on him. Already, she could feel her temporary solidness dissolving. She drifted, weightless, and the raindrops passed right through her. Her time was up—it was time to go home for now. She spread her wings and was there the instant she thought of it. Father seemed intent on giving her assignments that were close to the Sohmas despite her alleged completeness with them. She wondered if He was up to something else—one could never tell.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: The violinist Lindsey Stirling really does exist—it is because of her that I chose to make Melody play the violin in this story. Please go check her out :D Many of her covers are what I envisioned Melody's playing to sound like.

SCREEEEEEEEECH!

Akito winced. For once, he sincerely hoped that Melody wasn't around. If she'd heard him abusing her poor violin, she might not be too happy with him. The truth was that he missed her playing so much, he was compelled to fill the silence any way he could. Squishie burrowed under his pillow, hiding her face or perhaps protecting her ears. He wasn't sure which.

"Oh, stop that! You don't have to rub it in, you raggedy mutt!"

Her tail was wagging, which made it all the funnier that all that was visible was dog-butt. Half-annoyed, half amused, he tried again. The violin actually sounded as though it was in pain. He sighed, wondering what he was doing wrong. He'd been using her computer—his computer now, he kept reminding himself, to try and look up tutorials on how to play, but he couldn't seem to make the connection. Just listening to people like Lindsey Stirling made him feel as if he'd never get the hang of it. The relentless rain had stopped, so he threw the doors open, welcoming the gust of cool, damp air. Deciding to stop torturing the dog, he stepped outside with the violin. Maybe he'd get the hang of it out here where he'd seen her playing—maybe he'd remember something she did differently.

As he did at least once a day, he took what Shigure referred to as "the Melody tour". There were some things he knew about and many he didn't—many of them were still secrets just between the two of them. He passed the bench where he'd first confessed his feelings for her and his reluctance to lose her. He passed the corner at the very edge where they'd shared their first kiss. He passed the area where she'd first confronted Lyt. There was another concealed area in the hedges where they'd made love during one of the warmer nights. There was a little bridge over a koi pond where they'd had a very big argument—he couldn't even remember what it was over, and he'd lost his footing and topped into the water. Rather than getting more steamed, they'd both cracked up as she'd helped him up. The poor little fish were probably very traumatized by that, as they seemed to avoid that bridge for any other reason than feeding. The poor violin produced maybe two or three clear notes during that time, but no more. He also paused at the bare foundation of where the Cat's Room used to be. He and Melody had been tossing around ideas of what to do with this space, but they'd never really settled on anything. He raised the bow and tried again.

It was just after sunset now. Squishie had followed him out here and was bounding after a squirrel that was intent on teasing her. Other than her furious barking, it was very quiet. He allowed his eyes to close for just a moment, his chin resting on the body of the violin. There was the slightest bit of pressure on his hand.

"Melody?"

Warmth bubbled up inside of him as if he'd just drunk something hot. He relaxed his hand, feeling her correct his grip. Even when he opened his eyes, he saw nothing there, but he felt it. She surrounded him as if she were standing directly behind him. Once his fingers were in the right spot on the fret board, she adjusted his grip on the bow. He felt invisible fingers surrounding his wrist, pulling, and allowed her to move him. A clear, bright note sang out through the garden, then another. He allowed his mind to drift a little bit, comforted by the hazy, contented state that was coming over him. Squishie bark-sang joyously, scratching at his leg, but she might as well have been miles away. He saw Melody in his mind's eye with glowing white skin and that smile that could melt a glacier.

"I'm trying so hard, you know," he told her, "I really am. But I can't do it on my own—I never could. The only time I came even close to being a good person was when you were with me."

She had let go of his hands and was now embracing him, her cheek resting against his. He'd always wished he was taller, but being the same height as his guardian angel and once wife had its advantages.

"Can I see you? Just for a second?" he asked hopefully.

He felt her let go, but her presence remained. There was a fluttering of wings and a dove landed on his shoulder. It was the first form she'd ever taken. He had no doubt that the dove had green eyes though he couldn't see them in the growing darkness.

"You make a beautiful butterfly," he said, "but this is my favorite."

Squishie was back to chasing squirrels. Melody dive-bombed her, her cooing actually sounding like a reprimand. Squishie whimpered and lay down. The squirrel scampered up the trunk of a tree, most likely recognizing how lucky it was to escape. Akito laughed—for the first time since she died, really laughed—and held his hand out for her after laying the violin down. She landed there, looking as mischievous as it was possible for a dove to look.

"Well, I'm going to college, as I'm sure you know already," he told her awkwardly, "and then there's this…but now what? I don't even know what to study. I've never gotten good at anything. I've never had the inclination to find out. And now I'm just kind of lost. All those kids there are younger than I am…"

She tilted her head, seeming to be asking why that bothered him. He stroked her soft feathers, remembering all the times he'd voiced his greatest fears and concerns to her before he knew she wasn't really a bird.

"After being afraid I was going to die, it sounds silly, doesn't it?"

She shook her head.

"You're supposed to say that. You're my wife. Or were…"

Sensing the sadness that threatened to overcome him, she flitted to his shoulder and rubbed her head against his cheek. A tear glistened there and she actually grazed it off his cheek with her beak. He saw her swallow it and she sang to him. Though it was very different from her human voice, it did make him feel better.

"You have to go now, don't you?" he lamented when he felt the tension in her legs. She nodded. He gathered her up in his hands, being as gentle as he possibly could, and held her against his cheek. It didn't escape his notice that there was no heartbeat, but it didn't frighten him.

"Don't stay away too long," he begged, "I still love you, you know."

She nipped his finger affectionately before taking off. He watched her spread her wings with a sad smile as he gave her a little boost during take-off. It was so hard to let go…at least he knew she'd be back. Squishie whimpered and scratched at his leg, asking to be petted. They watched her go together and he wondered if she had another job to do. Retrieving the violin, he tried again to play now that she'd shown him how. It didn't sound good, but it was a lot more tolerable to the ears now. Squishie "sneezed" at him and he pretended like he was going to chase her. She took off across the garden, her tail wagging so fast it was a blur.

"When are we getting out of here? I'm sick of this place," Ren sighed.

"Keep your panties on," Lillith said irritably, "what do you expect? You tried to kill your own son no less than three times. You tried to kill Melody. You almost lost Kana and Tianshi by accident. You're lucky you're not dead. If Akito's knife had been one inch to the left, you'd have bled out before they could get you to the hospital."

Ren crossed her arms like a spoiled child.

"Look," Lillith said firmly, "you're just the same as every other loser in here. You're a nobody as far as all of them are concerned. Shut up and be quiet and listen for a change. You might learn something. And while you're at it, start exercising. Your skinny little butt won't be able to make it over the wall if you don't have the ability to climb it."

Ren looked almost affronted by this.

"I can help you, but if you don't want to be completely worn out, you'd better build your endurance up."

And so, the infamous thing that Ren dejectedly referred to as "Demonic Boot Camp" began. Every second that she wasn't watched, Lillith forced her to do push-ups, sit-ups, and taught her how to fight. It wasn't long before Ren's muscles began to scream and she woke up sore every day. But it only got worse. Now that she was building muscle, she was constantly hungry as well and the prison-food portions were meager. If she'd had the money to bribe the guards, she might have gotten more, but she had nothing. And Lillith would not help her.

"You're going to have to learn how this works, babe," Lillith said as Ren moaned about her hurting stomach one night, "you've had everything handed to you all your life. You've never once had to dirty your hands and just take it instead. Tomorrow, we start that."

They were in the crowded dining hall area. All around, there were other women hurriedly devouring their meager meals. You could tell the ones who had been here the longest from the ones that hadn't, for they sat hunched over their food with both arms protectively around their trays.

_I'm only going to show you this once,_ Lillith said, _so pay very, very close attention._

She scanned the area, looking for one of the easiest ones to pick off of. There was a tiny little girl that was actually smaller than Isuzu. Judging by her skeletal appearance and somewhat glaze-eyed glance, she had been arrested on drug charges. Lillith had taken over Ren's body and was moving as quietly and fluidly as a shadow. No one seemed to be paying attention, as they were all too busy eating. She whisked the bowl of rice off the tray and was gone before the poor lady could turn her head in puzzlement.

_She's already been eating out of it! That's disgusting!_ Ren objected.

_Shut up and eat. If you're not hungry enough to forget about that, then I haven't been pushing you hard enough, now have I? _

She did the same thing at dinner. The unfortunate thing was that the squat, hefty woman she stole from was not nearly as slow as the poor skeletal zombie. Her hand snared Ren's wrist and held it in a tight vice-like grip.

"And just what the Hell do you think you're doing, Barbie?"

Ren gulped and felt her face pale. Everyone had stopped talking and was now watching to see what would happen.

_Don't talk,_ Lillith said, _stare her down, intimidate her. Like this._

Ren felt her face subtly shift into a mask of indifference.

_Good. Now watch this. Remember what this feels like._

Ren rotated her hand very slowly, grabbed the other woman's wrist, and twisted it on sharp motion. The joints popped loudly and the other woman winced, forced to put her other hand on Ren's to try and jerk it loose. Ren leaned in very closely to her, Lillith's supernatural strength making her much stronger than she actually looked.

"You're very well endowed," she whispered into her ear, "surely you can spare some of your food to the less fortunate, can't you?"

CRACK!

The sound of the breaking bone was like a canon in the silence. A tear trickled down her victim's face.

_Take the damn bowl and run! The guards are on their way over here to see what's going on!_

Ren disappeared into the crowd just as the guards got there. By the time they reached her, the evidence was already gone.

"We know you're up to something," one of them warned, "so you'd better stop it or we'll put you in solitary."

Ren just gave them her best innocent "who, me?" expression.

_Good…you're not as dumb as you act,_ Lillith praised her, _now, best to keep a low profile for a bit. You've rattled the monkey cage now and there will be others come after you._

Sure enough, the lady whose wrist she broke did not take her defeat easily. She came after Ren when they were showering. Ren seized her and slammed her head against the tiled wall, causing her to fall, unconscious, to the slick floor. By the time the guards were aware that something was wrong, Ren had resumed rinsing herself off. She faked the surprise very well when she turned around and "realized" that the other woman was out cold.

In the weeks that followed, a few of the others had banded together to show Ren who was really boss. Ren was actually getting so fast that she didn't need as much of Lillith's help. Subtlety was key here. She nailed all four of them in places that the guards couldn't readily see and there was no blood. But the message had gotten clear: stay away from her or suck up to her. A few of them began to give up portions of their food to keep her pacified and a few of them followed her around like they were supposed to be her friends. A formidable force was growing in the prison right under the guards' noses. And every day, she could feel herself getting closer to her goal.

Akito woke one morning feeling disoriented. He'd just had a very vivid dream that he had been out in the garden and the ground had started to bleed. Just as he was backing away from the puddle of blood, a beating heart had risen out of the center. Now more curious than afraid, he watched as the blood solidified and contracted into blood vessels. Bones, organs, muscle, and finally skin began to form over it, but Squishie had woken him up before he could see who the person would end up being. Sighing, he let her out. Still heavy from sleep, he sat down on the edge of the bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He nearly jumped out of his skin when there was a knock on the door. When he slid it back, he saw Kisa's amber eyes looking up at him. The first time she'd been here, she'd been unable to meet his eyes. Now, she looked into them fearlessly.

"Did you have the dream again?" he asked.

"Yeah…"

"So did I."

"I dreamed it was Melody. She was the one in the garden that came from the blood."

"I know."

Kisa had been having this dream over and over since Melody's death. Just as she'd formed a tight bond with Tohru, she'd bonded with Melody as well. The two girls had been essential in helping her overcome some of her unique hurdles that being a Zodiac member had brought to adolescence. It was a bond, it seemed, that would not be broken even in death.

"There's more," she said finally, "I dreamed about your Mom, too."

Akito frowned, then gestured for her to sit down at his desk chair. She settled in just as Squishie bounded back inside. She leapt into Kisa's lap and seemed to be trying to lick her to death. Kisa giggled and hugged her until she settled down.

"So, what happened?" he finally asked after several minutes of waiting.

"There was another lady with her…Lilly or something like that…she wasn't like anybody I've ever seen. She looks a little like Tohru's friend Arisa, only with curly hair and not nearly as nice. They broke out of the prison and came here. But I was yelling in my sleep and Mom woke me up before I could see what else happened."

A grim feeling settled over the room, making it feel more shadowy.

"This 'Lilly' woman…what else do you remember?"

"She and Melody knew each other at one time," Kisa said, pensively stroking Squishie's head, "they called each other by name. I didn't like her…she felt mean."

The grim suspicion that came over him made him feel sick.

"I see…and have you seen her in real life, ever?"

"No. I don't know anyone like her in real life."

"Well, thank you for telling me."

"Mom says they're just dreams, but after all that's happened in the last year…"

"You think they're warning us," he finished for her, "I know. And I appreciate it. Start keeping a notebook of these dreams and write them all down, okay? And if you notice anything else, let one of us know. I'll do the same since I've been having them, too. Maybe between the two of us, we can figure out why this is happening. In the meantime, you might want to get back to your mother—she'll be worried about you being gone this early."

He hugged Kisa before she left and Kyoko sent her on her way with a basket of sweet rolls. Akito got dressed, had breakfast, and fed Squishie before trying to contact Isuzu. It was a Saturday, which meant she was probably still at home. After three rings, Kagura answered the phone.

"Hi Akito! It's been a while," she said, her cheerfulness sounding somewhat fabricated, "how are you doing?"

Akito decided to cut to the chase. He'd never been good with small-talk.

"Is Isuzu around? I needed to ask her something."

"She's here, but she's not feeling well."

"Is she sick again?"

"Well, no, but she had a really rough night last night. The pregnancy has been making her have these very strange dreams. She's exhausted and really, really emotional right now. Haru's having a hard time calming her down."

"Good. Well, no, not really…it's just that the dreams were what I wanted to talk to her about. Kisa and I have both been having them, too. I want to see if we all had the same dream."

"With all due respect, I really don't think it's a good id—"

"I'm coming over there. This could be something important."

Kagura sighed.

"All right. I'll put some tea on."

"I've already eaten. Don't worry about it."

The truth was that Kagura was a complete disaster in the kitchen. Akito trotted out to the car, Squishie at his heels, musing that Isuzu had enough to worry about without Kagura burning the house down. He arrived after a few minutes, watching in amusement as Squishie put her paws on the side of the door and looked out the window.

Kagura answered the door, her face pale and grim. She was still trying to maintain that disgustingly cheerful attitude, but it was as thin and transparent as glass. Akito didn't bother returning her greeting and went straight up to Isuzu's room.

Isuzu's face was buried in Haru's chest and he was whispering to her. Her body was shaking with silent sobs. Haru's icy gray eyes met Akito's dark blue-gray ones.

"Rough night," he said darkly.

Isuzu loosened her grip on him and turned to see who the invader was. Ashamed, she scrubbed at her face with a tissue.

"What are you doing here?" she asked shakily.

"Kagura said you weren't feeling well and that you were having nightmares."

"Oh, that? It's just…"

Her hands curved around her swollen tummy. Akito nodded, though he didn't understand how being pregnant influenced dreams.

"I've been having strange dreams as well," he said sympathetically, "I just wanted to know if we had the same dream."

"Well…I dreamed about Ren and this blonde woman. And I dreamed about Melody."

Hatsuharu gave Akito a dark look, but Isuzu continued, her voice beginning to steady as she talked.

"It's so frustrating…night after night, the same dream…I keep dreaming she's after me and I have nowhere to go. The worst one was last night…I dreamed she stabbed me in the gut and killed our baby."

Akito nodded in sympathy.

"I'm very sorry…"

Isuzu gasped then and everyone's breath clutched.

"What's wrong?" Haru asked, looking panicky.

"He kicked," Isuzu said warmly, "feel!"

She seized his hand and planted it on her curved stomach. Akito couldn't help but smile when he did. He was surprised when she took his hand in hers and placed it against her warm skin. Just underneath, a wavelike twitch prodded his palm.

"What does that feel like on the inside?" Haru asked.

"Like butterflies," she answered.

A protectiveness, much more fierce than the demon Lyt, surged forward in Akito. Though he'd never related well to children or babies, imagining the little boy just under Isuzu's skin, the one that would be named for his kind-hearted father, he knew he'd give his life for him.

"If these dreams really are a warning, then we'll be ready," Akito assured her, "we won't let Ren near the baby. If we have to move all of you until this is over, we'll do it."

"What if this blonde woman is…" Isuzu couldn't bring herself to say it, "…not human. We don't have Melody to help us."

"We'll manage," Akito told her, "and there's…God. The real God. He wouldn't get us to believe in Him and then just hang us out to dry. We're protected whether or not we see it. And Melody's still around, she's just not always visible."

It was hard for him to say, as he hadn't been feeling very faithful lately. He'd been angry with Father—angry with God—for taking away the one woman he'd loved and had also been his best friend. But faith wasn't worth much if it could be thrown away easily. Though it was harder than he ever imagined to trust that there was a point to all this, he knew there must be. Melody wouldn't want him to give up. And as he thought of her, he remembered how being around her had made him a better person. His job, whether he wanted to admit it or not, was to protect the others.

"So…how about a little vacation?" he asked.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry about the wait! Things have been picking up a little bit lately and classes haven't even started. My goodness…Thanks for bearing with me.

"I don't know if I can do that," Hatori said reluctantly. He and Akito were sitting in his office after closing the clinic. Akito had just informed him of the strange dreams that Kisa was having, though he still had a lot of uncertainty as to whether these things were actually happening or if they were fears of things that might happen.

"Please," Akito begged, "she almost killed me. She almost killed Melody and she scared Kisa and could have really hurt her. She's been nothing but a menace to this family since she came to work here. Wipe her memory and make her forget about me—about all of us."

"If what Kisa says is true, then it won't work," Hatori said sympathetically, "Lilith will still be inside her, and she will keep bringing the memories back up. My ability is little more than hypnosis. And for that matter, I'm not sure I can do it anymore. When Melody lifted my curse, she took a lot of things away…"

He frowned uncertainly. Since his exorcism, there were times that he'd feel oddly empty, as if there were a part of him missing. True, he felt much less anger, anxiety, and submissiveness towards Akito which enabled him to be an even better father figure to him, but there were a few "good" things that had gone away as well.

"I know what you mean," Akito said understandingly, "it's like in separating us from the demons that we were unwittingly handing down to each other, she ripped a big chunk of our own souls out as well. I still feel like I'm honeycombed inside, like there are all these gaps I have to fill in. I feel like without Lyt inside of me that I'm just…nothing…"

"That's not true," Hatori was quick to say, but Akito cut him off with a raised hand.

"I know," he said patiently, "it's just that it's hard to get used to. We've been living a lie for hundreds of years, that we're nothing without out Zodiac spirits. But we're all becoming so much more…this is just the hard part."

He seemed to have aged several years since Melody's death. His blue-gray eyes were the oldest eyes Hatori had ever seen on such a young man.

"So…I suppose there's not much more I can do," Akito finally said, "except bribe them to put Ren in solitary confinement, but I guess there's nothing else for it. She'll be back. I know she will. And when she does, everyone will be in danger."

"Maybe not," Hatori said optimistically, "we broke up her little gang of criminals when got Kana out of that house, maybe she'll take a hint and stay clear of us."

"She knows Melody isn't around anymore, though…Melody was really the only threat to her."

"There's always…well, Father…"

None of them had seen Him since Melody's passing, but that didn't mean He wasn't around. Hatori had been one of the ones that had caught onto that the fastest; many of his prayers were about Kana and Tianshi.

Akito sighed impatiently.

"I liked it better when He was here all the time…you know…in person."

"I did, too," Hatori admitted, "but Melody taught me to trust in the unseen. It's not always easy, but I know it's possible. I was so terrified that day that Lyt surfaced. Kana saw your heart stop three times and she brought you back—and she never stopped praying."

Akito stared.

"My heart stopped? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't even know until recently. Kana must have wanted to keep us both from worrying. But you seem to have recovered completely."

He bowed his head, letting his eyes close for a moment.

"I owe you both so much."

"We're family. That's what we do. Now, why don't we go join Kana and Tianshi?"

They both left the office and made their way down the winding maze-like hallway. On the way, a blonde blur streaked towards them, somehow managing to crush them both. It took Akito a second to realize that Momiji had found them.

"Hatori! Akito! You'll never guess what just happened!" he exclaimed.

"You figured out how to repair all the cracked ribs you've given people around here," Akito grunted, rubbing his bruised ribcage.

"You're funny, Akito!" Momiji laughed, "But no. I saw Melody! She was at school today!"

Akito stared.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I got a picture!"

He flipped his phone open, revealing a picture. Akito saw a dove perched on the back of a bench. It was close enough to clearly see that the eyes were green when he zoomed in.

"What happened?" he asked.

"There was a boy at our school getting picked on because his face is all scarred up. We'd have never found him if Melody hadn't come along—some older boys threw him in a dumpster and then locked it so he couldn't get out. She got Hiro first. While Hiro was undoing the lock, she also found Kisa. They helped him get out of there and get cleaned up. Then, she came and got me since Kisa couldn't go in the boy's bathroom."

Momiji's expression grew almost tearful.

"He told us he'd been thinking about killing himself," he lamented, "and that what those bullies had done was the last straw, but we talked him out of it. He's going to be hanging around with us a lot…is it okay if we bring him here?"

Akito felt as if a shadow had passed over his soul.

"Of course," he said kindly, "bring all your friends if you want. We have nothing to hide anymore."

"I had a feeling you'd say yes," Momiji said warmly, "you've been so nice since you've been with Melody. Even when you were sad."

Akito was about to urge him to continue his story, but he continued by himself.

"So, anyway, Melody perched on his shoulder. He asked if she was our pet bird because she was kind of particular about no one else touching her but us. Then, I asked her if it was all right if I took her picture for you. She waited long enough for me to snap it, then I guess everything was okay because she left again."

"And this friend of yours, what happened to him?"

"He's gone home, but he didn't seem very happy about it. He wouldn't let us walk him there."

Akito frowned.

"I don't think he wanted to go," Momiji continued, "but there's not a lot we could do about it."

"I want to know if anything else happens," he said firmly, "about either one of them."

"Don't worry," Momiji assured him, "you'll always be the first one we tell."

And he sprinted away, just like that. Akito and Hatori exchanged troubled glances.

"It sounds like abuse to me," Hatori said.

"I hope not," Akito answered, "but at least he won't be alone now. Not with friends like them…or my wife."

There was a longing in his voice as he said it, but it wasn't sad. To keep from being depressing, he talked about other things. It was lame, but he started with the endless rain they'd been receiving. The snows hadn't lasted long, but despite it nearly being April, the cold persisted. Sometimes the temperature would drop so low that the puddles would freeze. They then talked about Tianshi's affection for mud and how she was a trial to keep out of it. By then, they'd reached Hatori's house. Good smells wafted heavily out of the door when Hatori opened it to let Akito in. Tianshi cooed and crawled over to him, her little hands outstretched. He swooped her up into the air and she shrieked with laughter.

"Whew! Made some room in there for your mom's cooking, didn't you?" Akito grimaced. Hatori took her and made a very fast job of changing her diaper since Kana was busy cooking. Akito grabbed the rice bowls and plates and set the table without being asked, earning a very grateful expression from her. He was just getting the tea when Hatori re-entered with a much more pleasant-smelling baby in his arms. Tianshi seemed to be straining towards him.

"Yes, go see Uncle Akito," Hatori said sarcastically, "and forget your poor old dad that you haven't seen all day!"

Akito took her and she gave him a very wet, sticky, candy-scented kiss on the cheek. Kana squealed in delight, as all mothers do, at the first time a baby does anything. Tianshi seemed to know that she'd done something very impressive, for she did it over and over. Hatori snapped a picture to add to the growing photo album. Then, at last, they sat down to dinner. For a brief instant, Akito allowed himself to imagine what it would be like if this were his child.

_Are you coming back to me, my love? Ever?_

It seemed a small thing, but he actually said Grace that evening, their hands all clutched together, and even Tianshi seemed to pause for a moment, but it could have been that she was noticing the dessert sitting on the counter. It was only a brief "thank you", but he suddenly felt the need to say it, for nothing lasted forever. Hatori could have easily died, Kana could have died, and Tianshi might not have ever been born. And yet, here they all were, nearly one year later after some very hellish events.

After they finished dinner, Akito retrieved Melody's violin and went into the gardens to practice. The sky was red-orange and the setting sun was making the puddles look like melted gold. Tianshi was running about on the pathways. As reluctant as Kana was to let her go out, she was very hyper and acting up a little because of all that energy. Akito drew the bow across the strings, playing a soft, slow song. It was one that Melody had often sang to him. He was so caught up in what he was doing that he didn't see Hatori kneeling at first. Then, when he saw something dark and shiny on his fingers, he ventured closer. That was when he saw the blood oozing out of the ground.

The others seemed to have some sort of instinct on what was happening. One by one, they all appeared, puzzled, and said that they had been "pulled" there, much like in the old days when Akito had telepathic bonds to them. Akito watched, transfixed, as the beating heart rose out of the blood. Rather than stopping, he continued to play serenely. It couldn't have been more than just a dream. That was all it ever would be. He had read about Lazarus and even Jesus in the Bible that Melody had left behind, but deep in his heart, he wasn't sure he believed that people were brought back from the dead anymore.

Then, the shroud covered the growing flesh. Suddenly, he jumped. Father was standing beside him. He hadn't seen Him coming, but then, he rarely had before.

"Breathe," Father commanded. It wasn't a thunderous, booming command. On the contrary, it was a soft whisper, but Akito could swear he felt the whole world shudder at His voice. The figure beneath the shroud shuddered and coughed violently.

"Live," Father said.

The shrouded figure sat up, and that was when Akito dropped the violin with a loud clatter. He felt his heart crashing into his ribcage, his throat, his belly. Usually, he'd wake up long before this.

Melody stood and her shroud wrapped around her naked body, reshaping itself into a gauzy, beautiful white dress. It wasn't until he threw his arms around her that he realized with a sudden jolt that he was not dreaming. She was too warm, too solid, too real. He let out a shuddering gasp that was somewhere between a sob and a laugh and his breath kept hitching in his lungs. His tears were warm on her neck and he felt hot and cold at the same time. He barely managed to say thank you to Father, but Father's sparkling eyes told him that He already knew.

"I'm proud of you," Father said, "for not giving up. I'm proud to say I know all of you—very well. And I will always be with you."

He transformed into a dove and flew off into the sunset. The Sohmas watched him, all hugging Melody. She no longer had the wing bones or many of her powers, but she was content to be where Father had sent her.

Akito ran his fingers through her silky blue-black hair. Squishie wouldn't stop jumping on her and licking her. The others took turns hugging her and Momiji might have cling-wrapped her if Akito hadn't done so first. He didn't want her to ever go away again. Quite ignoring all the others, he planted a very passionate kiss on her, making Shigure and Ayame wolf-whistle at him.

"Shut up," Akito said when he surfaced.

Melody had just helped out the child, Toshiro, when she'd been called back into Heaven. Father was waiting for her, as were Gabriel and Michael. Michael was an enormous dark-haired angel with vivid blue eyes and Gabriel was smaller, thinner, and more delicate looking. Jesus was also there in his true form. Father's appearance was very different from the one on earth; for one, the light that was coming off of him was so powerful that it would make a human go blind within a split second. His voice resonated both inside and out, where it was impossible to tell if he were speaking into your ears or your mind, and musical to the ears.

"I see that went very well," Father said, talking about Toshiro.

"Yes, he has three new friends," Melody said, bowing humbly, "and he now has a reason to live."

"Good work.

She straightened, then.

"Is something wrong, Father? You brought me back so fast," Melody remarked.

"Yes. I wanted to keep the other Sohmas from noticing you."

He smiled broadly.

"You think I've been spending too much time around them?" she asked dejectedly, "If I have, I'll stop."

"I didn't want you to spoil the surprise, that's all," he said warmly, taking both his hands in hers, "you see, you've been teaching them even though you no longer have an earthly body. You've been giving them little glimpses that you've never really left them though they can't always see you. In doing so, you've taught them that I am there as well. Your former husband actually initiated Grace at dinner tonight strictly because he wanted to thank me for all that has happened. He could still be angry, still grieving, still resentful, but he has chosen to walk by faith, as has Hatori and the others."

Melody smiled.

"I want you to meet me here just at sunset," he told her, "go about your duties until then. Visit with the others. And then I will tell you about your new task."

He had not told her, it turns out. He said that He would show her instead. Before long, they were both standing in the Sohma Estate garden. She saw Akito playing the violin, listened to the lilting melody coming out of it. In the weeks following her death, he had been improving steadily.

"Ready?" Father asked, "This may feel a bit strange at first, but don't panic."

He placed his hands over her head and her heart. She felt an odd sensation of weakening, of changing as if he were shifting around all of her insides. To someone who had no guts, this was especially alarming. Then, everything went dark and she was vaguely aware of going to sleep in the cool, damp earth. At first, there was blackness and nothing. Then, she began to warm again as the blood vessels knitted together. She jolted when she realized she had a beating heart. For the first time since her death, she'd slept and dreamed, but it was steadily becoming more vivid. Her memories of Heaven faded yet again, but the sense of home had not, and neither did the closeness to Father. She became more and more solid, and soon, she was aware that she was naked. Her back was pressed into the mud, though it somehow seemed protected from getting dirty, and her front was covered with a thin, lace-like shroud that allowed everyone to see her breathing, but still concealed her bareness. Then, when he commanded her to breathe, her lungs jerked and shuddered until they found their rhythm. And when Father said "Live", she awoke. Feeling strange and shaky and new, she sat up and felt the shroud tightening to clothe her. Akito's eyes were the first thing she saw, wide in disbelief. Father had reunited them.

She had not forgotten how to love him. Vaguely in awe at the squirming in her stomach, the thundering of her heart, and the trembling in her legs, she embraced him, marveling at the warmth of his cheek against hers. Surprised, she realized that a tear had trickled down her neck. Why was it that humans cried even when they were happy? Her own eyes were sparkling with moisture. She'd have been content to know he'd never suffer from a demon possession again, but she was happy to be here, too. He kissed her rather passionately and her face flushed hotly.

After they said goodbye to Father and thanked Him, her stomach rumbled noisily and they all did a mass migration to the kitchen. She inhaled deeply at the smell of brewing coffee and Kyoko, after bruising most of her ribs from such a tight hug, sat a plate of Western pastries before her. Closing her eyes in contentment, she realized how much she'd missed eclairs and jelly rolls. She listened intently while stuffing her face and let each person tell their story in turn. Tohru was there as well, having come with Shigure, Kyo, and Yuki. She was talking very fast, her face pink with excitement, and Melody noticed that there was a ring on the hand that Kyo was clutching very tightly.

"It's a promise ring," she said breathlessly when Melody commented on it, "we're going to finish school first, but then…"

"Just don't get me roped into all that girly wedding stuff a whole year early," Kyo muttered, "I've had to hear it from Isuzu already."

Melody grinned at Isuzu and Haru.

"How's Akira doing?" she asked them.

"He's going to be a dancer, or maybe a martial arts prodigy," Isuzu said, squirming, "…excuse me. He's currently tap-dancing on my bladder."

As she made a mad dash down the hallway, Haru absently twisted a napkin between his fingers.

"It shouldn't be long now," he told them, "I can't tell if I'm excited or terrified. Or both. I don't see how Hatori does it."

"I had to learn just like the rest of you will," Hatori spoke up, "no parent in the world gets an instruction manual when their child arrives."

Tianshi was fast asleep in Kana's arms. The excitement had worn her out.

"So, now that you're back, will you have a baby?" Kisa asked bluntly. Akito's cheeks turned crimson, but Melody looked at her without a shred of embarrassment or blushing and said, "I don't know. It all depends on what Father wants. I personally wouldn't mind."

"You can borrow ours anytime you want," Kana joked.

They all laughed.

Isuzu returned and Melody got to feel the baby kick. It was in the wee hours of the morning before they all decided to call it a night.

"I just can't get over this," Akito said, touching her cheek, "I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and you'll be gone, that I just dreamed this whole thing."

"I assure you it's not," Melody told him warmly, "and I am not going anywhere."

It took him a very long time to get to sleep and she only accomplished it by stroking his hair until his breathing finally slowed and deepened. Relieved by this, as she was suddenly very tired as well, she dropped off into the darkness as well. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, as she had to get used to being in flesh again—and this time, she knew it could easily be for several decades, even a century if Father willed it. It would be a lifetime of laughter, tears, exhaustion, sometimes sickness and stress, but it would be a great adventure all the same.


	6. Chapter 6

It had taken him a long time to get to sleep that night. Akito was curled around Melody so that she was unable to move without waking him. They didn't wake until afternoon, both somewhat cramped from sleeping in the same position for most of the night. Akito was the happiest he'd been in a very long time. Still laying with his head on her chest, he was listening to her heartbeat.  
"You act like you'll never see me again," Melody teased. He'd never been clingy before, which unnerved her just a little bit.  
"I'm afraid I won't," he said bluntly, "I've already lost you once."  
"I'm afraid you're stuck with me."  
"No complaints there."  
She smoothed his inky dark hair back from his face.  
"Your dad said he loves you and he's proud of you," she informed him, "just before I left. I don't remember much else, but I do remember that."  
"How does this work? Are you really human now?" he asked.  
"Yep. Just like all the rest of you. Though I have a little confession to make-it feels a little...empty. Like there's a part of me missing. Father said I'd get used to it over time, but I already feel weaker without my powers."  
"Can you still heal people?"  
Her hesitation told him that wasn't the case.  
"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I had no idea I'd be taking so much from you by wanting you back."  
"You didn't choose it," she said kindly, "Father did. You can't blame yourself for my abilities or lack thereof."  
The truth was that she'd been awake for a long time that night as well. She'd watched the light grow soft and blue as she'd held the sleeping man in her arms, wondering what the new life would hold. There would be things like hunger, thirst, tiredness, and sometimes sickness. There was a very real fear of death now that she was mortal. But worst of all, there was the sense of disconnectedness from her healing powers. Who was she when she wasn't trying to help? It was so alien to her.  
"I still wanted it," he reminded her.  
Squishie jumped on both of them, reminding them that she wanted her breakfast.  
Melody was surprised to be this hungry after all the junk food she'd consumed the previous night. She'd devoured double portions at lunch and offtered to go help Hatori, though he insisted he was doing quite well with Kana there to help him.  
"You just got back," he said with a straight face, "I'm sure Akito would want more time with you before I start stealing it all away."  
He gave Akito a small, understanding smile, which he promptly returned.  
The warm sunshine felt good on their skin as they walked along the beach later on. Akito still didn't have enough pigment in his skin to protect it from the sun, so he wore a T-shirt with his swim trunks. Melody had a simple black one-piece on that flattered her ample figure. She volunteered to go and get them some ice cream while he stayed under the shade of an umbrella and watched the waves coming in and out.  
"Two chocolates, please," Melody said to the man running the snack bar.  
"Two chocolates to match the pretty lady's sweet smile on me," he said with a wink, "here you are."  
"Oh, I couldn't. We have more than enough to pay for them-"  
"I insist."  
She shrugged.  
"All right, thanks."  
He watched her walking away, dark eyes twinkling mysteriously. When she returned, she was surprised to see Akito scowling darkly.  
"What's wrong?" she asked.  
"Do you know that guy?"  
"Who? Him? Nope. Never seen him before in my life," she replied, taking a big lick of the ice cream.  
"Why's he staring at you like that?"  
"Is he?"  
She glanced up, but the guy was busily cleaning the counters.  
"Well, he's stopped now. If he does it again, I'll ask him to stop."  
Akito took a long time to start on his ice cream. He watched the water, puzzled. Why did it bother him so much to see another guy paying attention to Melody? She was married to him.  
Suddenly, he had a very sick feeling. Marriages only lasted until one person died or got divorced. Was it even still technically real? And if it wasn't, what would happen then? He felt his throat close up at the very real possibility that Melody might get tired of him. Just going by his past behavior, he certainly would understand. He was small and skinny and had a very nasty attitude at times. He had no discernible talents other than keeping everybody else in line and even that had its limits. Since the curse was gone, she didn't even have a good reason for sticking around.  
"Are you all right?" she asked, seeing his dark expression. Only moments ago, they had been joking and laughing.  
He shrugged and she knew this was Akito-ese for "I don't want to talk about it." Instead of pushing, she cuddled up closer to him, which made him feel the tiniest bit better. The guy at the counter was staring again, but Akito was the one to meet his gaze with a very pointed, very warning look. Paling, Melody's admirer busied himself with something behind him so that he'd have an excuse to turn his back on Akito's black scowl. Melody's eyes were closed in contentment and she was oblivious to the whole thing.  
When they arrived home, Akito felt a bit better. Most of the people he trusted were here, though it was still bothering him. Remembering the white backpack, he upended the contents on the desk while Melody was taking one of her super-lengthy baths with some ratty old book. He skimmed through them, wondering if Father had left a marriage certificate among all the other documents. Since Melody had not been born the usual way, she wouldn't have had a birth certificate or any of the other papers that were needed without His preparations. Sure enough, the marriage certificate was there. He felt the tension seeping out of his body as he held the cream-colored page in his hands. Melody's rings were also on the desk, but only for the duration of the bath. She didn't want to risk losing them in the water. He turned them over and over again, watching the diamonds sparkle in the light.  
"I'm supposed to be the happiest man in the world," he admitted to Squishie, "so why do I feel so strange?"  
She licked his hand as if trying to console him. He grinned and ruffled her hair before deciding to go join his wife. He supposed it was nothing more than a case of nerves. The way she looked up at him from her nest of bubbles told him he had nothing to fear.  
"Now will you tell me what's going on?"  
He knelt next to the tub.  
"It's silly," he admitted, "I...overreacted...to something. Nothing new there."  
She gave him a sympathetic smile.  
"Was this about that man that sold us the ice cream?"  
His gaze dropped to the floor and she knew that was it. Her hand cupped around his cheek and gently brought his gaze back to her face.  
"I treat everyone the same," she assured him, "except you, of course. You're the only one that I share anything more than friendship with. You can trust me, you know."  
"It's them I don't trust," he said darkly, "and you're still so...innocent. You won't see it."  
"That's good, then, isn't it? Because it wouldn't matter."  
"You're mortal now," he reminded her uneasily, "I just don't want you getting into a dangerous situation because you're too trusting. It's them I have a problem with."  
"And that's what I have you and Shigure and Hatori and all the others for," she said warmly.  
She unplugged the drain and watched the sudsy water whirling down it before stepping out onto a rubber mat. Akito wrapped the towel around her almost reverently, his hands very gentle despite the lack of practice. Among the many dreams he'd had about her, this was one of the most common. She kissed him and giggled when he stumbled backward. Her dark curls were still plastered flat to her head at the moment and her green eyes were gleaming impishly.  
"Still got it," she said mischievously.  
There was a very strong twinge in his stomach when she said that. Despite the fact that everything had changed, some things never would. Despite having been intimate with her many times before her death, he felt as if it were the first time all over again. Nothing in his opinion could wreck it, not even when he underestimated how close they were to the edge of the bed and they both tumbled into the floor. The sharp pain his shoulder was completely forgotten soon enough and she claimed that the bruise on her back didn't hurt at all though he was quite sure she was lying. Then, the phone rang and he found that he was, once again, wrong.  
"This had better be important," he muttered. Melody reached over his shoulder to retrieve it and said a cheerful "Hello" as if nothing were different. Akito leaned in closer to listen and she pressed the "speaker" button.  
"Um...hi Melody...It's Kagura. Could you go find Hatori for me? He isn't answering his phone and I'm pretty sure that Isuzu might be going into labor. Haru isn't back yet and I don't really know what to do."  
The earlier haze of passion quite forgotten, Melody went into doctor-mode.  
"Is she having contractions?"  
"She says it's a pain her lower back, but it's starting to hurt in the front, too."  
"Is it coming in waves?"  
"Yes."  
"How far apart are they?"  
"I don't know. I haven't timed them."  
"Tell her to lay down on the couch or something and pack a suitcase for her. We'll see what we can do about finding Hatori and Kana and you stay with her and try to get hold of Haru. We'll come and get her when we find them, all right? In the mean time, take a deep breath and stay calm. There's nothing to be afraid of and we don't want her to be anxious, either."  
"All right...thanks. I'll ask her what she wants to take."  
"Hang in there, all right?"  
Melody said a quick goodbye and rose to dress. Akito had butterflies in his belly. He didn't know anything about babies except what little experience he had with Tianshi, and certainly no experience with bringing them into the world. Kyoko met them in the hallway with Tianshi, explaining that Hatori and Kana had gone out to dinner. Melody sighed and punched in his cell number. She really hated to interrupt him, but she'd never delivered a baby on her own before and had only seen one other one delivered the last time she'd been around. Akito was quiet, not saying much as she paced around impatiently. By the time Melody managed to get him on the phone, Kagura had texted that the contractions were coming fast and hard and that Isuzu's water had already broken. She was already bringing her to the clinic so that she didn't have to have the baby at the house.  
"What a mess," Melody sighed. Hatori, of course, had said quite calmly that they were leaving right away and would be back within a few minutes. The traffic on the road was unusually high, though, and it was quite possible that they'd get delayed.  
"They're here," Akito told Melody. She glanced out the window and saw Kagura's car. Kagura was supporting a pale, staggering Isuzu with one arm and trying to carry her suitcase with the other. Melody slipped her arm around Isuzu's waist and she and Kagura linked hands under Isuzu's thighs, making a seat for her. Akito followed with the case and they all went clumsily inside. Isuzu didn't talk much because she was gritting her teeth against the pain. They placed her on one of the end beds so that they'd have some privacy. Kagura's phone lit up and she stepped out of the room to talk to Hatsuharu.  
"What a day for me to come back, huh?" Melody asked Akito. He shrank back when Isuzu let out a muffled scream, her face buried in a pillow. Her hands clamped over the edge of the bed, her black painted nails digging into it.  
"Now what?" he asked nervously.  
"Now we wait," Melody said, "I'm going to change her into a gown, try to get her more comfortable. Maybe you can ask for a room to be ready?"  
Grateful to have something to do, he went to ask the maids. She helped Isuzu change into one of the hospital gowns and checked all her vital signs. She asked how long she had been in labor and was surprised when Isuzu said she'd been aching a lot for days, though this was the first time she'd been in active labor. Finally, she checked her dilation. She was far enough along to have pain medicine, much to her relief. Melody had just given her the shot by the time Hatori and Kana came in. A panicked Haru burst into the room and ran to her side.  
"I'm so sorry," he panted, "I got here as fast as I could. Are you all right?"  
"Better now," she said sleepily, "just...pressure. A lot of pressure."  
Hatori took over then, but Melody was given consent to stay since she was going to go back to work for him anyway. Akito paced restlessly in the hallway. Haru went a little green in the face, but bravely stuck it out for Isuzu's sake. When it was finally time for the baby to come out, he turned from green to white.  
They had said that birth was a beautiful experience. It wasn't, at least not in the conventional sense. Isuzu was hot, sweaty, and exhausted as the labor extended late into the night. When Akira was finally on his way out, his skin was a mottled reddish purple. He was covered in goo and Haru wondered if this was in any way normal. Hatori had to help free his shoulder, but he was already trying to cry by the time he was halfway out. Kana scrubbed away the goo and Hatori clamped off the cord. By then, Akira was looking slightly less squashed and crying. Haru stared in shock as Kana placed this squirming, crying thing in his arms. He weighed about eight pounds, Hatori said. Melody was sponging Isuzu's sweaty face and singing along to some cheerful pop song on the radio. Akito poked his head in the door. Since the curtains were drawn around Isuzu's bed, he couldn't see what was going on, but he could certainly hear it. A relieved smile crossed his face-he'd been out here for hours. He'd left and come back several times only to start to worry since it was so late.  
"Everything's all right in there?" he asked when Melody's head poked out.  
"It's all good," she assured him, "just a second."  
There was some shuffling around and rearranging behind the curtains, then Melody drew them back. What greeted him looked like a family portrait. He was spared the bloodied sheets, the stained clothes, and all the scariness and hard work. Isuzu, now clean and tucked comfortably under a pristine white blanket, held the whimpering baby Akira, whose skin had faded to a soft pink. Haru was cling-wrapped to her side gazing adoringly down at his son, who had his own silvery-gray eyes in the split second he'd opened them. Already, a tuft of dark hair adorned his head and his tiny hand was clutching Isuzu's finger. Kana had gone now that she was sure Isuzu was situated, and was putting Tianshi to bed.  
"I'll stay with her if you want," Melody volunteered, "that way you can go with Kana."  
Hatori would never admit how tired he was, but the grateful nod of assent gave it away. Haru wouldn't leave Isuzu's side, so they pushed another bed in beside it for him. Akito sighed, resigning himself to sleeping alone again with only Squishie for company, but he knew it was just this one time.  
"Do you want to hold him?" Isuzu asked. There was a time when she'd sooner die than put anything valuable in Akito's hands, but that time had long-since passed. Haru's glacier-colored eyes only held the slightest bit of misgiving as Isuzu carefully placed their son in his arms, but it was short-lived. It was only because Akira was so little and helpless. Akira was still warm from his mother's body and it was as if flames burned beneath his skin. He blinked up at Akito only briefly, but the silver in his eyes was very visible under the fluorescent lights.  
"Eh?" was the only noise he made. Akito didn't talk to him like the others did, but he held him gently, just studying his features. How long ago that October seemed when they found out he existed...when he started to squirm, Akito handed him back. He didn't want to be responsible for him crying.  
"I'll be back in just a bit," Melody promised. She wanted to change into her pajamas and say goodnight to Squishie before settling in for the night. She also wanted to hold Akito in her arms for a while, just the two of them with no audience. A few moments later, she wore pale green satin pants and a black tank top and was gazing out at the moonlit garden with Akito.  
"What a first day back," she observed.  
"You can say that again," he answered, pulling her closer, "everytime I get you alone, someone wants something."  
"We've got an entire lifetime," she said in his ear, "this is only the beginning."


	7. Chapter 7

The morning dawned cool and misty. Though it had rained last night, it was a gentle, comforting rain unlike the storms they'd had previously. Hatsuharu hadn't slept very well simply because he was hyper-aware of his new son's presence and was afraid he'd roll over on him or something, though he was laying cuddled against Isuzu's chest. Isuzu, on the other hand, had slept very well since the delivery had tired her out significantly. When Akito entered the hospital room, both new parents were awake and the baby was crying. At the counter, Melody was mixing up the baby formula and placing the bottle in the bottle warmer. As much as Isuzu would have liked to feed him her own milk, her schedule wouldn't allow it. Haru could also take turns with her giving Akira his bottle.  
"Is it true that babies have different cries for what they want?" Isuzu asked.  
"It's true. Hear the 'nnnn' sound he's making? That's hungry," Kana was explaining, "it's caused by his tongue hitting the roof of his mouth."  
"I can safely say I haven't got the slightest idea of what I'm doing," Haru announced.  
"It takes time," Hatori said, entering the room with a fussy Tianshi, "I've been around a lot of children, but nothing really teaches you as much as having your own."  
Tianshi squirmed, seeming very anxious to get down. Hatori let her go, as her hard little shoes were bruising his ribs. Tianshi shrieked with laughter, running around and peeking under all the beds. She paused just as she reached Melody and looked up at her with big cinnamon-colored eyes. Melody was busy squirting a few drops of formula on the inside of her wrist to make sure it wasn't too hot. Akira's crying abruptly cut off, replaced by the sucking noise. The tension seemed to visibly drain out of the room. Melody wiped her hands off with a towel.  
"Tough, wasn't it?" she asked Tianshi, swinging her up in the air and making her scream with laughter, "You wanted to know why the world was so cold and so bright and where your mom was and where your cord went and how on earth you were having breakfast from now on!"  
Tianshi giggled breathlessly, her little arms and legs flailing. She wanted more, but Melody's arms were already aching. She'd build her strength up again eventually. These were virgin muscles, not accustomed to lifting anything yet.  
"So, when can we expect one from you two?" Isuzu asked very bluntly. Melody's cheeks flamed.  
"Don't we have enough already? I did only just get back and there's two little ones right here," Melody said, busying herself with tidying up the counter. Kyoko and a few other maids spared them the further awkwardness by bringing in breakfast for everyone. Kana checked on Isuzu's recovery and said she could leave or stay depending on where she wanted to be. Not surprisingly, she and Haru wanted to be in the guest room that had been prepared yesterday. Isuzu felt better with Hatori and Kana being around rather than a bunch of strange nurses and doctors, but she preferred to keep away from a hospital environment as much as possible. All the others kept watch on the baby while she showered.  
The radio, the one that had somehow become indispensable since Melody's arrival, could be heard in here, too. There was a plastic shower chair for her to sit in if she didn't want to stay standing. Good...she was exhausted. Stripping away the hospital gown, Isuzu winced. Her belly was still very distended, though it looked empty and saggy. Stretch marks marred her once perfect pale golden skin and the swelling in her legs hadn't quite gone down yet. She had dark marks under her eyes despite having slept more than anyone and her now-shoulder-length hair was a messy dark mop. But she saw the good things as well: there was a rosiness to her pale cheeks she hadn't had before and a glint in her eye that came with the knowlege that you protected something special for several long months until it was ready to come out into the world. Naturally, she had gained a little extra weight that wasn't the baby, the amniotic fluid, or placenta. It had filled out her previously sharp hipbones and padded her once prominent ribcage. Her hips were soft and rounded and so were her previously bony legs. These changes, she mused, she didn't mind so much. But goodness, did it hurt to move! The pain medicine was blunting most of it, but she was still sore. She was glad she hadn't felt the brunt of it; she might never consider having another one if that had been the case. The shower warmed and refreshed her and she felt much more awake when she stepped back out, toweling her hair.  
Meanwhile, the others were either pouring tea or coffee. Squishie was whining at the door. For once, they let her inside. Isuzu had been the sole patient, so they weren't so concerned with contamination. They were careful to keep Akira away from her, though, just as a precaution. She barked noisily, her head and front paws low, but her butt sticking up in the air and tail wagging. Melody explained that this was a greeting, but everyone else thought it was the silliest way in the world to say hello. Tianshi ran after her, giggling as Squishie would wait for her to catch up only to scramble away from her, claws clicking against the tile. When Tianshi fell and started crying, however, Squishie reached her before anyone else did and promptly began to give her big, wet dog-kisses on the cheek. Tianshi promplty forgot the pain in her backside and giggled.  
"Do you think we should-" Akito started to ask Melody, but Melody shook her head.  
"She won't hurt her."  
Tianshi threw her arms around Squishie and hugged her tightly. Squishie must have been very uncomfortable, but she took it well and was still wagging her tail when Tianshi released her. Now that she was good and tired and out of breath, she eagerly ate the food Kana offered her. Melody had once thought having rice for breakfast was odd, but there were so many ways to make it that she never got tired of it. For a few minutes, there was no sound but chopsticks clinking against the side of bowls. Melody answered the phone, as she was finished eating before the others were. Swirling the last bit of coffee around in her cup to get all the sugar, she leaned against the counter and said hello.  
"Tohru and the others want to know if you'll be up for company later," she said to Isuzu, "they have some presents for the three of you, but they said they can just drop them off if you want some rest."  
"Tell them to come while he still mostly sleeps," Isuzu laughed, "there'll be plenty of days where it's just us and Akira."  
Melody relayed the message, then frowned.  
"Shigure, I hope you were joking. Oh, good."  
They all exchanged knowing looks.  
"Well, we'll see you this afternoon, then. Okay, tell the others I said hi. Yes, I miss them already, too."  
She pinked visibly.  
"Shigure! Don't joke like that! Yes, he's right here!"  
Eventually, she said goodbye, but was laughing again.  
"What did he say?" Akito demanded.  
"Don't ask."

Once again, it was a very busy day. Still not all that talkative, Akito waited out the company with patience and he did have to admit that he liked having all of them there at the house, but he was getting tired of sharing his long-lost wife. By the time he got her back, he mused, he'd be older than Kyoko. Eventually, he escaped to the garden with Squishie trotting on his heels. She'd been a good sport, but Tianshi insisted on chasing her or hugging her tightly whenever she was around, so he got the feeling that Squishie needed this break as much as she did. Instead of chasing birds or squirrels, she sighed contentedly and spread out on the warm paving stones by Akito's feet. The morning clouds had burned off quite a while ago and the milky daylight was taking on a yellow tinge that signalled late afternoon. He saw Melody coming towards him and a smile ghosted on his lips. No one was following her, either. Finally...  
"There you are," she said warmly, "I was wondering where you'd gone to."  
"I was choking on all the estrogen," he said, making room on the bench for her, "I still get claustrophobic sometimes."  
"Don't worry," she sympathized, "it happens. At least Akira's a boy and he gets all those nice blue things. If it were a girl, we'd be drowning in pink. Too much pink gives me a stomach-ache because it reminds me of sugar."  
He glanced at the coffee cup in her hand.  
"It must take an awful lot," he joked, knowing how sweet she took it.  
They sat side by side in companionable silence for a while. He reclined lazily over the stone bench and rested his head in her lap. The light was hitting him full in the face, illuminating the sapphire in his eyes. She noticed that there was a faint ring of silver around the pupil. She wondered how anyone could have treated him his cruelly as Ren had.  
"When did the fountain get here?" she asked, noticing the angel statue pouring water out of a pitcher into a smooth stone basin. It was right where the Cat's Room used to be. During her absence, so much construction had taken place that you couldn't even tell it had been there.  
"About a week or so after you...left," he chose his words carefully, "...I wanted there to be something nice to look at instead of the ugly concrete slab."  
All around it were several species of roses. Her favorite, fire and ice roses were nearest to them. They were white with red tips and they symbolized the purity of friendship love mixed  
with the passion of romantic love. He picked one and tucked it into her hair. It was the one that Ayame had put in her hair the day of Hatori and Kana's wedding that inspired the idea for this garden. Their scent perfumed the air so heavily that it made her a bit dizzy.  
"Summer term for university starts soon," he lamented, "I went to all this trouble to find something to do away from the house and now I have to leave you for most of the day during the week."  
Melody shook her head.  
"Don't worry about that. Heck, I might take some classes myself. I know a lot about humans, but I've never really tried learning from their perspective. Besides, I should do it so I can help Hatori and Kana more. Maybe I'll get a nurse certificate."  
"You'd be good at it. At least you have some idea of what you're going to do with the rest of your life."  
"There's more to life than working, too, you know," she said gently, "the whole thing is one big adventure if you know where to look for it."  
"Sure," he joked, "and if I slide your dresses back in the closet, I might find Narnia, too."  
She giggled.  
"It's a wardrobe, not a closet," she corrected him gently, "and I've been there. Sort of. It's not really called Narnia..."  
"There you go again with that cryptic angel talk."  
"I can't remember anything else except that I've been there. Ugh...that's frustrating. It's like a wall's gone up in my head. I could tell you some amazing stories, but they're all blocked off. I only get snatches of them in dreams sometimes."  
"I'll bet you could write a book."  
"Maybe I will."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: University classes are back in full swing! Between this and some other things that have gone on, my time for writing has been a little scarce lately. I hope nobody gave up on this thing :)

Morning came much too early for his taste. Akito punched the top of the alarm clock with more force than necessary just because he despised its screeching beep. Melody stirred, but he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to get up with me," he said gently.

She did anyway. Both of them were yawning every few seconds and they were both clumsy and glaze-eyed while they fumbled into their clothes. At this time of the morning, the kitchen was empty. The coffee pot puffed and bubbled in the background while Melody prepared them a simple breakfast-she had been learning how to cook from Tohru. They ate in silence while Squishie lay sprawled out in the floor next to her filled bowl. She didn't seem to like being up early any more than Akito did. They walked out to the car together, admiring the sunrise and all its colors. The light made their skin all soft pink and he was loathe to leave her, but he had to get going or he'd be stuck in traffic for half a day.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" she asked.

"Any other time, I'd say be my guest. But not after yesterday," he said firmly. She gave him one last hug and waved to him as he pulled out of the driveway. Giving a sigh, she walked back inside the house. The thing in question was her stomach-she hadn't felt good yesterday, but assumed it was merely something she'd eaten that didn't agree with her. For the last few weeks, she'd also been disproportionately tired. That she attributed to helping Hatsuharu paint the nursery at their new house as well as moving numerous boxes for them so that Isuzu would sit and rest with the baby. Both of them were doing well and Isuzu had been treated like a queen. Their new home was closer to Shigure's house, so the others would be able to drop in on them to visit and check frequently. Kagura, of course, missed Isuzu being around, especially now that they were getting along so well, but Isuzu reminded her that she couldn't study with a crying baby waking her up all hours of the night.

Melody yawned and lay right back down despite the coffee. She slept so heavily that she didn't notice Squishie pawing at her at first. By the time the dog got her attention, she was shaking all over and whimpering.

"Oh...I'm sorry, Squish. I forgot about this being when I usually let you out," she said, sliding the door back for the poor little dog. She shook her head as if that would physically clear the stupor she was in. It was only around eleven; Akito would not be back until the evening. Sighing, she wondered what she would do until then. The clinic was closed today and it was Hatori's day off, so work was out. She wondered if the others would mind if she dropped in. School hadn't started back for them yet, as it was still the summer. Shigure picked up on the third ring.

"Why, hello, Melody! What's our resident angel up to?"

Melody giggled. Though she had been human for quite some time now, Shigure and the others always still referred to her as "angel".

"Today was Akito's first day at University," Melody said, "and the clinic is closed for now. I was wondering if any of you were busy."

"Just the usual," Shigure chuckled, "Kyo and Yuki are destroying the house again, Tohru's trying to stop them, and I'm trying to find inspiration in all the chaos."

Melody laughed.

"But feel free to join us anyway," Shigure quickly amended, "they'll behave better if you're here."

"Okay, then. I'll be over in a little bit."

She took Squishie and placed her in the front seat. The little white car was up for grabs since it was around for anyone to use. Akito had hinted more than once that she could have it, but she felt guilty taking it all for herself when she didn't drive all that much. She was certainly improving-Hatori was the one who had been teaching her since he was the calmest under pressure. Remembering all of his instructions, she made sure everything was adjusted and her seatbelt on before she took off. There were times that being mortal was downright frightening, but she actually enjoyed driving when she started to relax-she always rolled down the windows unless it was raining and let the wind blow her hair back. Singing to herself as she made her way out into the countryside, she reached over to pat Squishie. Squishie wasn't very fond of riding in cars, but the others might be too busy to watch her. She was grateful to get out of the car and flop over in the grass. Shigure was waiting for them on the porch.

"What have you done to this poor little girl?" Shigure asked, referring to Squishie.

"Oh, she's such a drama queen! She likes to pretend I'm a worse driver than I really am," Melody said dismissively. Right on cue, Squishie sprang up and bark-sang her greeting to them all. They both winced when they heard a big crash followed by "YOU DAMN RAT!"

"What are they fighting about?" Melody asked.

"Who knows? It used to be because of the Zodiac demons," Shigure replied, "but now, I think it's just because they've always done it and they wouldn't know what else to do."

"Kyo, please calm down!" Tohru begged.

Melody cracked up.

"Yes, please calm down," Shigure yelled into the open door, "start pretending to be civilized-we've got company!"

The chaos settled right down. Kyo and Yuki appeared, both quite mussed. Kyo's cheek was bruised and Yuki's lip was bleeding. A very harrassed-looking Tohru appeared behind both of them, her blue-green eyes grateful. One of her hair ribbons was askew and her face was glistening with sweat from chasing the boys around the house.

"Good morning Miss Dawn," Yuki said in his usual quiet whisper. Kyo merely raised a hand in a half-wave. Melody had been asking Yuki to cut it out with the titles since she'd met him, but he'd never grown out of it. She suppressed the sigh.

"You two are a sight," she observed, "what was that all about?"

They glanced at each other sheepishly, then at her.

"Nothing important," Yuki finally said.

"That's what the damn rat always says when he's losing," Kyo shot back. Melody couldn't help but laugh.

"The rate you two are going, you'll still be hauling butt after each other in wheelchairs and beating each other with canes," she pointed out, "surely you can work this out some other way?"

"Believe me, we've tried," Shigure said with a sigh, "but it's just not as exciting."

They all went inside. The place was trashed, of course, and the two boys saw Tohru's wide eyes and guiltily began to put things to rights.

"It looks like lunch is going to be a little late," Tohru said sheepishly, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Melody shrugged, "don't worry about it. My belly's been feeling a little off today anyway."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I have a tea that might help you...once I find the tea pot, that is," Tohru said sympathetically.

The two girls searched the decimated kitchen until Melody recovered it from under an enormous stew pot.

"Here it is," she laughed, "this is like playing one of those hidden objects games on the computer!"

"Why would you want to look through a bunch of clutter for fun?" Kyo couldn't help but ask.

"Because all you have to do is click a button versus having to actually dig through stuff," Melody returned, "not that I blame you for being tired of it."

She revealed the Uno Attack machine that had been a staple of overcoming awkwardness during her first weeks with the Sohmas. Immediately, Yuki and Kyo began trading veiled insults and hints that each thought he was going to win. Shigure showed Melody a manuscript he was working on-fittingly enough, it was a children's book about the Zodiac animals and all the adventures they had in every day life. The cat was a very prominent character.

"I can't wait to see it when it's finished," she said, finishing the job of shuffling the cards.

Once lunchtime got there, she was surprised at just how hungry she was. She probably ate more of Tohru's dumplings than anybody did. Once lunch was over, however, she found herself feeling sleepy again. They all went into the living room to sit, but Melody immediately dozed off.

"Does something seem different to you?" Shigure asked after they'd covered her up with a blanket and gone outside.

"Yes...she doesn't seem to be her usual energetic self," Yuki pointed out, "she didn't say much during lunch."

"I thought it was the fact that she ate more than both of us put together," Kyo said.

"Maybe it's just the human body," Shigure shrugged, "she hasn't been back very long."

"It's been over a month, though. Surely she'd have adjusted by now."

While the Cat, the Rat, the Dog, and the Rice Ball were discussing Melody's strange state, Akito was learning his social graces in the most awkward way imaginable. The first faux pas he commited was when he realized he was going to be late and slammed into a girl on the stairs. Books and papers went flying everywhere.

"Damn it! I'm sorry," he sighed, hastily trying to help her gather them up, "this is only my first day in and I can't find-"

He abruptly cut off when he realized who he was talking to. Both of them froze in place for a moment.

It was that waitress, the poor lady he'd shouted at before he realized that Melody was coming back. She paled visibly and timidly accepted her things from him as if he were a poisonous snake in danger of biting her hand off. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat and handed her the last book.

"Oh...it's you. Uh...listen, I'm sorry about what happened that day. I was just in a really, really bad mood because my wife was...missing."

She nodded, afraid to say anything at first. Akito felt the blood rising to his cheeks and continued on down the hallway. He paused when he heard footsteps sprinting up to him.

"You did find her, didn't you?" her voice was loaded with concern.

"Yes, she's back at home now," he said quietly, "everything worked out in the end."

"I'm glad. You must really love her to be that worried and that angry that she was gone."

"She's my best friend as well as my wife."

"That's very sweet. She's lucky," the girl smiled, "now, where was it you were going again? I might be able to help you find it?"

He showed her the classroom number.

"That's where I'm headed. We can go together."

Akito followed her, his insides still squirming. He still wasn't used to apologizing. He chose a chair near the back. Fortunately for him, hardly anyone in the outside world knew what he looked like just because he'd been indoors most of his life. However, the teacher began to take attendance and several heads snapped around when they heard the name "Sohma, Akito." He wanted to just bury his face in his notebook and hopefully have a different one when he emerged. He pretended it was no big deal, but he knew there would be whispers in the hallway.

The waitress girl turned back around and smiled at him. He pretended he didn't see.

That day seemed to drag on forever. He'd gotten lost quite a few times, had been asked thousands of times why he was there when he didn't need to work for a living, much less have a job with a degree requirement. He was asked numerous questions about his family and so forth. By the time that day was over, he was never so glad to see the sun starting to go down. Sitting in his car for a moment, he rested his head against the wheel, waiting for the headache to pass. Hatori had warned him that this might happen, but things would settle down soon enough. He was sick of being around people and wanted nothing more than to go home and lay cuddled up with Melody in the dark.

By the time Akito returned, Melody had woken up from her nap, apologized to everyone for falling alseep on them, and driven home. She was waiting for him when he pulled in and each was a wonderfully welcoming sight to the other one.

"How'd it go?" she asked.

"You're not going to believe who I ran into today."

While they ate dinner together on the porch, Akito filled her in on the poor waitress who had suffered his wrath while she was gone and how she'd been there today. He recounted the flying books and the whispers and the good, bad, and ugly of the teachers and the campus. She smiled and rested her head against him while he told her and she felt as if she'd been there with him by the time it was over. Then, she told him about the visit to Shigure's. When she mentioned that she'd been falling asleep a lot and her stomach was still acting up, he frowned in concern.

"I want you to have Hatori check you out," he said firmly, "this may be nothing to be worried about, but it's better to be safe than sorry. If you're that tired, you shouldn't be driving. I don't want to lose you again."

"I'll ask him tomorrow," she said with a yawn.

He steered her into the bedroom. Despite her nap earlier, she was tired again and went to bed a good two hours before he did. While she was sleeping, he started on the reading he had to do for his classes. It was nearly midnight when he finally gave up the ghost and joined her. Already, he mused, he was getting busy. He couldn't imagine what it would be like near exam time.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Again, sorry about the long wait. This unexpected bout of flu gave me some down-time to write with, so I thought I'd write while I still could! I hate leaving things unfinished.

Chapter 9

_She was floating in a boat down a peaceful river. Akito was waiting for her at the end of it, so she took her time and enjoyed the view as she rowed. Squishie was bark-singing at the birds flying overhead and the whole world was splashed with the vivid colors of autumn. Melody couldn't remember feeling this happy in ages. Eventually she found Akito and was just trying to steer the boat close enough to him so that he could climb in. But just as he took her hand, a blonde woman seized him and dragged him into the woods. Melody was horror-struck and ran after him, but the woods caught fire as the ruthless woman dragged her poor husband right into the heart of the crackling flames._

"Melody!"

Melody's eyes snapped open. Akito's face was a mere inch or so from hers, showing equal measures of annoyance and concern in his dark sapphire eyes. He'd had to shake her pretty hard to snap her out of it.

"Huh?" she asked, coming awake all at once.

"What the Hell were you dreaming about? You almost suffocated me, holding onto me so tightly!"

"I'm sorry," she said, her cheeks reddening, "did I hurt you?"

"No. Well, almost. You nearly punched me in the face at one point. What happened?"

She sighed.

"I had another one of those really strange dreams…one of those really vivid ones."

His expression softened a little.

"I hate those," he empathized, "but you're all right now, aren't you?"

"Yeah," she said guiltily. Her stomach rumbled noisily.

"I had a freaking huge dinner," she sighed, "how on earth can I be hungry again?"

"I don't know," he answered truthfully, having seen the quantity she'd eaten, "but you'd better get something. I've noticed that your dreams get crazier when you go to bed hungry."

She reached over him for the bedside table and pulled out a small package of peanut butter crackers that she'd started keeping there. Though he thought that was a little strange, he hadn't asked. Now, he understood their purpose.

"What time is it?" she asked after swallowing her first bite.

"Too early to be awake and too late to go back to sleep," he griped, "I wish there was a way of timing your dreams better."

She looked at the plastic wrapper in her hands guiltily before pitching it at the wastebasket. It sank in neatly.

"I can't seem to get it right," she admitted, "either I feel really sick or I'm really hungry. Have you ever been this really weird _hungry_-hungry? Like even if you see or hear or dream something really gross, but it doesn't phase you at all because you think your stomach's trying to eat itself? I wish I could stop it. It's almost as bad as the sickness."

"_Today,_" Akito insisted firmly, "You take care of this _today._ Or I will drag you down there myself—I _can_ do that, you know."

"All right," she relented. She didn't want to bother Hatori over something as silly as a temperamental stomach when he had bigger things to deal with, but Akito would never get another good nights' sleep if she didn't. She rolled back over, the horrible acid-aching in her stomach gone and enjoyed the feeling of Akito's slender, lanky body wrapping around hers. She always felt safe with him doing that. It was a shame that he only had a little bit more time left before he had to get up. When she woke again, he was already gone.

Sighing, she got out of bed and got dressed. It was time to keep her promise. But first, she made sure to let Squishie out. Once the little dog was back inside, she made the very familiar trek down to the hospital area. Hatori was already there, though the clinic wasn't officially open. Kana and Tianshi were absent, probably having breakfast or maybe still asleep.

"Good morning, Melody," Hatori said, helping himself to his ever-present mug of coffee, "Akito said you might be coming by today."

"Yeah," she said reluctantly, "it's probably nothing or something just silly, but I kind of scared him earlier."

"What seems to be the trouble?" His tone was all fatherliness and concern.

"I've been having some funny dreams lately. And I keep swinging between nauseated and super-hungry like I'll die if I don't put something in my mouth right then. It's dumb…but…"

"It's better to be safe than sorry," he said, agreeing with Akito, "have you noticed anything else?"

"Well, I get kind of sleepy during the daytime a lot. But I thought that was just part of being a human. But if I get left alone at all, I doze right off."

"I see."

He typed her name into the computer and her records came up.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to get a bit more personal," he said, "I noticed that you were taking some birth control before you…uh…left. Did you keep taking it once you returned?"

Melody's stomach squirmed.

"No," she admitted, "in fact, I completely forgot about it before now. It's probably still in the dresser drawer where I left it."

"Hmmm…and the last time you bled?"

"I haven't," she said, "not since I've come back."

"You do realize that was over a month ago, right?"

Her stomach lurched.

"Over a month? Really? I didn't think it was that long," she admitted, "I guess I've been so busy that I've lost track of time."

Her heart was pounding in her throat as Hatori retrieved one of the specimen jars. She emerged from the bathroom just as Kana had come in.

"You'll never guess what just happened," Kana was telling him, "she was looking for you! She's talking now!"

"That's wonderful," Hatori said, beaming, "what did she say?"

"She said 'Where's Daddy?' Or at least that's sort of what it sounded like. She hasn't said it again yet, though. She must have stage fright or something."

Hatori kissed Tianshi's chubby little cheek and retrieved the dipstick for the jar. Melody was smiling and cooing at Tianshi, so she wasn't paying attention when the stick changed colors. Hatori took it out and examined it.

"Well, Melody, how would you feel about having one of these?" he asked, gesturing at Tianshi.

Melody giggled.

"Another Tianshi? I'm pretty sure that Father only made one."

Hatori and Kana glanced sideways at each other. For a split second, Melody kept on laughing. Then, she abruptly stopped.

"What?" she asked quietly as it sank in.

"You're pregnant," Hatori said more bluntly.

His smile was the last thing she saw before she wiped out.

"Ugh…." She groaned a few minutes later, "how embarrassing. How long was I out?"

"Not long," Hatori said, "maybe twenty minutes. Long enough for Kyoko to leave this here."

He gestured to a massive quantity of food on one of the bedside tables. There was easily enough there to supply ten people, Melody guessed.

"Wow…I'm sorry," she apologized, "it's just that I thought you said I was going to have a baby."

"You heard me right."

"Congratulations, Melody!" Kana hugged her tightly and even Tianshi kissed her on the cheek, though she didn't really understand what was going on.

"Oh, my Lord…" Melody whispered, "it's real, isn't it? It's really in there?"

"It's too small to get a sonogram of right now," Hatori explained, "but it won't be long before we can see it."

Melody probed her abdomen slightly. Nothing really _felt_ different yet, but there was a tiny area that felt the slightest bit firmer than usual. She was filled with a vast array of emotions all at once, many of which made no sense.

"Thank you, Father," she said with closed eyes, "this is such a blessing…"

The room actually seemed to grow warmer for a moment.

"Have you both eaten yet?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you. It's your turn. Judging by how pale you are, you need it more than us."

In one of her ravenously hungry phases, she dug in. The hot and sour soup seemed to revive her and the rice filled her up and made her stop feeling so weak.

"Do you want us to call Akito for you?" Hatori asked.

"No," Melody said, "I'll tell him when he gets in. He drives kind of crazy when he gets really strong emotions."

"Can't say I blame you," Kana answered.

They made her stay there until they were sure her color was good enough and she wouldn't pass out again. She was given a bottle of prenatal vitamins and a book to read about exactly what changes would take place during her pregnancy.

"If you have any questions at all, I'd be glad to help since I've already gone through this," Kana told her.

"Okay," Melody said appreciatively. She headed back to her room to look at the book. It was very detailed, talking about what happened at conception all the way up to delivery and how the woman's body would change back afterward. She remembered all the times that Akito had made love to her and was stunned that such a thing could lead to such a miracle. No wonder Father had been so strict about it—it was, if in the right circumstances, an amazing process. She thought about the tiny thing sleeping in her womb, something that was smaller than even a grain of rice but would eventually grow into a baby sized thing and then into an adult-sized thing. Then, she began to wonder if it would be a son or a daughter.

"I'm going to be a mommy," she told Squishie, who seemed to sense that something was different, "isn't that wonderful?"

She held Squishie in her arms and rubbed her face into Squishie's fur, a habit she had when she wanted some comfort when Akito wasn't there to give it.

"It's kind of scary," she admitted, "There's lots of things that could go wrong. But I'm sure Father will take care of us. All of us."

The day went by very quickly as she read the book and tried to figure things out. They would need a crib and some clothes and diapers and maybe bottles…this mommy stuff was complicated. She hoped she'd be good at it. Before long, she heard Akito's car and let out an excited squeal. Hatori and Kana were the only ones who knew so far that there was another Sohma in the works—she didn't want to tell anyone else before Akito found out. He was the most important one.

He was retrieving his school bag when Melody pounced on him, hugging him as if it had been years instead of hours since he'd seen her. Despite the fact that he was much more reserved on his displays of affection than she was, it still warmed his heart to get this sort of greeting.

"Feeling better?" he asked her.

"Yeah, actually."

"Did you go see Hatori?"

"Yep. First thing when I got up—after letting Squish out, so I guess it was sort of the second. But close enough."

"And?"

"Well…"

She suddenly felt shy for no good reason at all. He waited, eyes slightly narrowed in suspicion. The way Melody handled things, it could either be really good or really bad, but she'd still react the same.

"Is anything wrong?" he pressed.

"No. The opposite, actually," she said, leaning against the hood of the car, "I just found out that…"

She took a breath, then let it all out at once: "Yourgoingtobeadaddy."

"What?"

"You're. Going. To. Be. A. Daddy." She forced herself to go slower the second time.

"What?"

His tone was getting more incredulous. Nervous now, Melody gulped.

"I'm having a baby. Your baby," she said, still smiling, "I just found out."

Her smile evaporated as he suddenly turned and walked away.

"Akito? What's the matter? I thought you'd be happy! Don't you want a baby?"

His expression was as cold as a winter's nightfall.

"Sure," he snapped, "now that it's on the way, no one will need me anymore."

"Wait a minute! Akito, what are you talking about?"

She chased after him.

"The curse, remember? Every time the god has a child, they die," Akito snapped, "you forgot that, didn't you?"

Suddenly irritated, Melody stepped directly in his path.

"I _killed_ that curse," she sighed, "did _you_ forget _that?_"

He brushed past her and went inside. Tears began to fill Melody's eyes as she watched him go. Squishie pawed at her leg and whimpered.

"That didn't go the way I hoped it would," she choked out before she started to cry.

Shigure was in the middle of teasing his poor editor, yet again, when there was a knock on the door. He scooted her aside, wondering where Ritsu was to distract her, and slid the door open. His reading glasses, giving him an air of intelligence and professionalism, clashed heavily with his yukata, which gave him an air of relaxed laziness. However, his usually laid-back demeanor went out the window when he saw who was on the porch.

"Ayame? What are you doing here?"

The usually happy snake-spirited man was very grim-faced. He supported a huddled figure on one arm and it was wrapped up in his favorite red coat.

"I found a very lovely angel by the road," he said quietly, "and it looks as if she's taken a tumble."

The figure glanced up and Shigure saw that it was a very red splotchy-faced Melody. He'd never seen her this upset before.

"Why don't you two come in?"

Akito had gone outside into the gardens after leaving a path of destruction through the house. He felt suffocated inside. Out here, he could think better and there was less stuff that he was tempted to break. The maids probably weren't very thrilled with him right now, he mused guiltily. He paced irritably for several minutes, torn between being furious and concerned.

_I can't believe this…_

He looked at his own reflection in the water. His hair was mussed and his eyes were wild the way they'd been before Melody had come into his life. His heart was thundering and his blood pressure had surged dangerously, giving him a headache and a sick stomach. He remembered how frail and fragile Akira had looked before his death. He remembered watching Akira's soul invisibly leaving his body and then feeling the terrible stillness of his hand afterward. He remembered worst of all Ren's accusations that _he_ was responsible for Akira's death just by being born. It hadn't been fair and he couldn't help it, but that had always stuck with him. Now, some other little brat was going to replace him. Even if he didn't die, Melody might not love him as much as this baby. That alone was enough to crush him. He had become used to being her everything and now it was all going to change. He shook with fury and exhaustion simultaneously.

"I hate her," he said, not really feeling any true conviction behind it, "I can't believe she did this to me."

He thought of the stupid little pink pills in the dresser. What good were they if she wouldn't take them? He had thrown them into the wastebasket with much more force than necessary. Useless things now…

Squishie had barked at him, which had really set him off. She was now currently hiding from him, which made him all the more furious. It was a lot like the old days when nobody could stand him. As his fury ebbed, he sagged down onto one of the stone benches. The fear that settled in wasn't nearly as easy to deal with as the anger. There were too many "what-if's" going through his mind. If Melody didn't hate him before, what if she did now? He certainly deserved it. He knew he'd hurt her. And now everyone else would hear about it and he'd be the bad guy once more. He rested his head in his hands, wishing this headache would stop.

"God give me strength," he prayed.


End file.
